PHOTOS: Sam Cooke, Madison firefighter and U.S. Navy veteran, loves helping others.
Cooke, besides putting out fires, does that through his cattle farm, Cooke’s Charitable, or CC Cattle Company, located in Rio.
Not only does Cooke’s farm, which he bought in October 2021 after searching for almost two years, donate beef from 10 grass-fed cattle to area food pantries, but it also houses five horses that will provide equine therapy to wounded veterans and fellow first responders who struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental illness that can develop in some people who have experienced or witnessed a terrifying, shocking or dangerous event.
PSTD is slightly more common in veterans than in civilians, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. About seven out of 100 veterans experience the disorder.