AM I ALONE?

T

TDB4

New member
ARE THERE ANY OTHER WHEELCHAIR BOUND OR OTHERWISE DISABLED SHOOTERS, HANDLOADERS and/or FIREARMS ENTHUSIEST HERE?

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TDB4,
I don't imagine you are "alone" whether there are wheelchair bound folks here or not.
If you have something to pull a trigger with, and are a firearms enthusiast, then you are kin.

Nuf' Said

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Same Shot, Different day
 
Greetings and welcome, sir. You most certainly are NOT alone. A few years ago, I was fortunate to recieve NRA's "Professional Public Service" award in Seattle, Wa. There, I shared the stage with a gentleman paralyzed from the waste down and he was in a wheel chair. I was humbled by this man. He'd worked tirelessly with private land owners and the Washington state to get some wheel chair-accessable blinds, etc put up on private and public lands such that these hunters could participate. His kind are all too few. Fortunately, I suffer no such physical handicaps. But, you are not alone even so far as I am concerned. As the previous post stated if you enjoy shooting in any of its disciplines, you, sir, are a part of the shooting community and welcome anytime insofar as I am concerned. Best to you and yours.
 
TDB: Like the other two posters said, you're welcome to be here. If you love shooting, freedom and good camaraderie, you've come to the right place.

I don't personally know if any of our other posters are wheel chair bound or not.

Good to have you!
Mike
 
I'm not wheelchair bound....yet. I have Muscular Dystrophy, and someday I will be. Right now, I'm just weaker than the average bear. :) Your certainly not alone though. When I was at the range last week, there were actually two men in wheelchairs shooting various pistols. It was certainly nice to see some fellow handicapped shooters.
 
I don't know if I qualify as "company" for you or not. I am a below the knee amputee of the right leg. I am able to walk with the aid of a prosthesis and am not wheelchair bound. I generally don't mention this aspect of my physical status if it isn't relevant, but I do want you to know that there are others of us who are "less than whole" who are avid shooters.
 
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I to am a right leg amputee... It was lost due to a gun accident...
Do I blame the gun? Why yes I do and I try to punish it every chance I
get. I plan on putting so many rounds through it that it's little barrel
melts... Just joking, although I do shoot a considerable amount. Was a
freak accident. Forgot my safety rules for just a second. The moral of
the story... just be careful at all times. With my prosthesis the only
problem I have is duck hunting. The leg tends to get very heavy when it
is waterlogged. Finding waders that will fit over the fixed foot is difficult
at best. Other than that most people never know that I have one. So in
answer to your question yes there are others out there who wholly support
the 2nd even after they become handicapped. This picture is from the 1998
pheasant season. Please note Zelda, a very proud puppy.


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I've never posted this and I feel a little funny about making it public, but here goes. No, you aren't alone. In 1978 a drunk in a truck hit me as I was walking. It hurt some things in my back. I had a couple of operations, but my back hurts, sometimes pretty badly. While I was trying to recuperate from the back surgery I began to loose my balance at odd times. I thought this was due to the accident. It wasn't. In a cat-scan my doctor discovered that I had an acoustic neuroma (Tumor under the brain) that was as big as a baseball. More surgery, 6 weeks in the hospital and I was home. Two weeks later I had a high temp. and much pain. Back to the hospital-I had Spinal Meningitis. Then, every few months, I had Meningitis again, for a total of five times. This hurt my vision and the high temp. associated with Meningitis made the back problem much worse. I had another surgery to patch a crack in my skull (Because the tumor was so large.) that was letting bacteria get into my spinal fluid and causing the Meningitis. Finally, I had spent so much time in the hospital on my back that blood clots had formed in my right leg. So, it's been back to the hospital two times for a total of four weeks for phlebitis.
There are some other associated things, but I'm tired of typing about my own medical problems. The point is that although I am disabled, I still go to the range and shoot and I'm still a member of the NRA!

Will
 
O don't consider myself dis-abled, but I'm 30 and will need a new hip within the next 5-10 years depending on who things go. Bad back and bad knee too. Actually, I've got a screwd up pelvis.

It's great to hear that no matter what the future holds, you guys prove that shooting can still be a part of life.
 
About 20-30 years ago, an article in one of the "Outdoor Life" genre described some of the long-range shooting done by a wheel-chair fella. He and some buddies would go to a roadside observation area and set up. They had a WW II rangefinder, binocs, etc. The guy in the wheelchair used a 7mm Mag and regularly got his deer. He had the shooting fun, they did the grunt work. All had a heckuva good time.

So: You are not alone, you are not the first, and you're part of a great fraternity. Welcome!

Regards, Art
 
Yes,



I went to the KC gunshow yesterday and today and saw many people in wheelchairs, or w/ artificial limbs, and I've seen a few in gunstores, which is more than I expected.



Disabled people probably need a gun more than the rest of us, since they are inherently more vulnerable from the inability to flee quickly. So, I guess it should come as no surpise that they need and want guns.
 
TDB4,
There's probably more of us than one might realize. I was diagnosed with
Chronic Lymphatic Leukimia eleven years ago and have been on Medical Dissability taking oral and entervienous chemotherapy ever since. This is not my handicap.
Thirty five years years ago I lost my right arm through the elbow in an industrial accident... I was right handed.
Six years ago I had a retnal detachment in my left eye....my shooting eye. These are my handicaps ! Tried without success to correct the vision in the left eye to see well enough to keep shooting.... was into off-hand muzzle loader compition and modern trap.
Instead of improvement, I developed a blind spot just to the right and above the line of vision of this left eye.
So, for competition perpouses I had to give up muzzle loaders.
But not ATA trap. I built a set of sights....beads, on the right side of my trap gun and carry a singles average this year of 95.3, which is about the same as what I had before the left eye went bad.
So, even though we're not wheel-chair bound, there are lots of us who can relate.
Just keep on keeping on!! :) :)

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Ralph in In.
 
No, as you can see your not alone......im still ambulatory and hope to stay that way, all in all im in good health....I once spent two weeks in an orthopedic ward of the va hospital in newmexico---It changed my whole perspective--those men met their handicaps and worked through them, it was most amazing to me.....I was the only guy there with all four appendages, and they wore me out....lol....
Last nite on the tube I watched a show about a new wheelchair--most impressive, unfortunately the price is 20-25k most likely,and will be put out by johnson and johnson........the chair climbs stairs both up and down and the wheel base raises to allow people to reach things on the top shelves etc, travels through sand and gravel with no problem....I tend to be a mechanical technology freak and thorughly enjoyed the program.............fubsy.
 
TDB4, As you can see we are not alone. I'm a T-4 para (for the last 19 years). I enjoy all shooting disciplines, but my favorite seems to be big bore pistols and revolvers. I also like reloading and a little "kitchen table" gunsmithing. I'm an NRA Life Member and I seem to remember they have a department set up to help disabled shooters. You may want to check it out. One thing I have noticed about the folks you meet in the shooting sports is that they ALL are pretty nice and willing to help a fellow shooter. If you need help, just speak up. I think you'll be pleasantly suprised... Joe


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Go NRA
 
TDB4, I'm disabled also(t-7 para). To me, shooting at the range is the only therapy that always puts a grin on my face. :)

Bauldy

You might be a redneck if, you have a gunrack mounted on your wheelchair. lol
 
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