In August 2016, Cody Gardner of Vermont sustained traumatic injuries in a vehicle accident. He survived but lost a leg and now is in a wheelchair. That has not stopped his drive and determination to continue pursing life to the fullest, including hunting.
This is Gardner’s story submitted to DDH:
Two months after my near fateful car accident I was certainly starting to get out and about much more and that was very uplifting for me. One of the coolest experiences that I got to endure was being able to go out hunting during bow season. I had to get a special handicap permit and was able to use a crossbow. For much of the month of October I would wheel my way to a vehicle that my dad would use to take me hunting. We then would drive out to a field and my dad would roll me from the vehicle to a blind set up for me to hunt out of.
It wasn’t easy getting pushed in an alfalfa field but at least I was hunting. This was a very therapeutic time for me due to the fact that I was back doing something familiar to me again. Watching the deer was a great way for me to pass the time and it provided me with time to just relax and enjoy myself. The fresh air hitting my face and the soothing sounds of the outdoors offered me the opportunity to escape the circumstances that had been weighing me down for the past few months.
The situation was not ideal but at least I was as close to my old self as I could be at the time. There were sometimes that my dad was unable to take me hunting and I got to spend some evenings with family members and friends instead. Those days were pretty cool also, and I was glad to share some of my time with people that I truly cared about. A lot of memories were made in that hunting blind and I will forever be thankful for those evenings.
Cody Gardner’s buck had a deformed foot, which solidified in Gardner’s mind that his wheelchair buck was meant to be.
The thing is I never had gotten a deer with a bow before. I like to think of myself as a fairly accomplished hunter but I just never…
