THE FORKS, Maine — Devan Rittall sat at the back of a four-row rafting boat and pushed off into the Kennebec River. There were class IV rapids awaiting him and his passengers, but this was where he seemed most at peace.
Maybe it was because the Nobleboro native had dreamt of moments like that when he was at his most vulnerable. In June of 2020, doctors diagnosed Rittall with Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes the body itself to eat away at the sheathing protecting nerves. Rittall explained he began to lose the use of his legs, then other muscles, until it became hard to even breathe.
"It was super scary," he recalled. "It felt like I couldn't take a breath in; like I couldn't actually move my lungs."
Rittall was confined to an in-patient rehab facility that doubled as a nursing home, and was being treated during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With his two young children only allowed to visit his window at times, Rittall was emotionally alone while navigating the scariest period of his life.
While in his bed, his mind wandered to happier times. He recalled his uncle, a whitewater rafting guide in The Forks who worked for Three Rivers Whitewater in the early 2000s. Rittall said he joined his uncle on a trip back then, as well as another time when he was a teenager.
As he thought about these memories, he yearned not only to walk under his own power again, but to once again experience the raging rivers of Maine's woods.
Through physical therapy, Rittall regained his legs — walking with the help of a walker, then a cane, then on his own while wearing ankle braces for support. His nerve sheathing was regrowing at one-to-two millimeters per month.
A provider in Scarborough, with whom Rittall was friends, guided in The Forks on the side and, in June of 2023, invited him on a trip. He was hooked again. But for his next goal, he not only wanted to ride the rapids on trips. He wanted to become a guide and lead trips himself.
He called the owner of Three Rivers, Jimmy Doria, and pled his case. Doria offered to add him to a June 2024 certification training class.
"It's gonna be very hard. It's a very difficult program, and we're gonna hold you to the same standards that we hold everybody else to," Doria recalled telling Rittall. "He said, 'That's fine, I wouldn't expect anything less' and 'I'll see you in June.'"
Training included at least three rafting trips per day; carrying the heavy boats over land; and many stairs to get to and from the rivers.
"I just said I was not gonna give up," Rittall said. "I have to pass this; there's no other option. I didn't let failure become an option."
He got his certification. If he gains enough experience and proves himself to Doria, the owner will let him lead customers on his own. It's yet another challenge the new guide is up for.
On a hot July morning, we climbed in that boat with Rittall on the Kennebec. A handful of other guides joined in, choosing to do on their day off what they would be doing for work. They love their summer gig so much, Rittall, fellow newbie Jackson Bisson, and others said they camp out for the entire summer near Three Rivers headquarters.
"He pushes through everything head-on," Bisson said of Rittall. "He’s a super nice guy; I love working with him."
It takes a special type of person to make this a day job. The guides are responsible for the well-being of customers as young as 10 years old, and it's an adrenaline rush each trip down.
But when the rapids relent, the mind can wander once again, and Devan Rittall knows there's nowhere else he'd rather be.
"It's been the best therapy I've ever had," he smiled.