Deer Tracks Wild Wish 2004

I was invited to the Deer Tracks Ranch in Lansing, Michigan to be involved with six kids who all have life- threatening illnesses. Craig Mortz, who is the head of Michigan SCI, and Tony Semple, a former Detroit Lions player, were on hand to assist with the kids. There were several other great- hearted people who were there to help out in any way they could. Each kid had his own guide, so when I first arrived I asked Bill Owens, the manager of the ranch, which kid he would like me to be involved with. He introduced me to a young man named John who had been diagnosed with brain cancer and had three brain surgeries as a result. This weekend turned out to be one of the most humbling experiences of my life. John is an eleven- year -old boy that without the help of his father would not be able to function as other kids do. I had the opportunity to go on the gun range with John and Bill Klein, the manager of the ranch. Bill did a great job of helping John learn to focus and hit a target. It took a great deal of patience on Bill’s part and just the right way of teaching him to make everything come together. I also had to learn how to sit with John and help him balance the rifle on his shoulder and make sure that he was seeing what I was seeing through the scope. After an hour or so John was tired and needed to take a nap. I didn’t know how things were going to work while we were sitting in a blind. I think I have taken a lot for granted because of the way I can harvest an animal, and just having the coordination to. But now John and I were going to team up and use both of our skills to make a dream come true. Now, it wasn’t just for John, it was also for me. That evening we climbed into the blind together. Just as we rehearsed it, John sat in front and I sat behind him with one of my legs on each side of his chair. There was enough room in the blind for Craig Mortz, who was videotaping the hunt, and John’s father who sat by quietly watching the evening unfold. John had a hard time speaking quietly, so when we were in the blind he would turn around and yell something at his dad. At that point we started working with thumbs up and thumbs down. It took a little getting used to, but John finally caught on. About an hour went by and suddenly an eight-pointer appeared. It was feeding about 100 yards from us and I could tell that John was as nervous as me. That is when John turned and yelled “Hey dad!” he must have been so excited that he forgot the thumb rules. In quick response there were three grown men saying “shhhh!” amazingly the deer looked up but wasn’t startled. It continued to feed more into the open field. Once he turned broadside everything we had rehearsed had now turned into reality. I helped to steady the rifle on John’s shoulder and reached around to steady his left hand on the stock of the gun. His trigger finger was a little bit too eager, so before I took the safety off I had John put his finger on top of mine so that he wouldn’t shoot before it was time to. I was whispering in his hear and asking him if the cross- hairs were lined up on the deer. John gave me the thumbs up and I told him to squeeze my finger when he was ready to make the gun go off. I no more than had said that when I started to feel pressure on my finger and “boom” the gun went off. The buck hit the ground like a sack of hammers. There was dead silence in the blind. I sat there totally awestruck over what this young man had accomplished. And just like that everybody was high-fivin”, hootin’ and hollarin’! After Craig was done with the video camera in the blind the buck had enough time to expire. That is when we asked John if he wanted to look at his deer. I did all I could do to keep John from pulling me out of the blind. Then we were walking to the deer, and I had never seen him move so fast. As John was standing over the deer he was quiet, but only for a moment. When his dad got next to him they started singing, dancing, and hugging each other like any father and son would do at a boy’s first successful hunt. At that moment there were no hospitals, surgeries, or chemo, nothing but the four of us having a great time. That went on all through the night and into the next day. It had not hit me yet what we had done until we were at the supper table the next evening. I cannot explain to you the emotions that went through me when John stood up from the table walked around to my side and gave me the most unforgettable bear hug. This is only one of six stories that happened during the weekend at the Deer Tracks Ranch. It is good to know that there are people like the team at the ranch that care enough about others to make so many wishes come true.