Fishing For The Physically Challenged
Population
Fishing for the physically challenged population
is a great way to bring enjoyment and a feeling of
accomplishment to their lives not to mention giving them a
feeling of being part of the
community.
A little kindness and time on your part can
bring much happiness in the life of a physically challenged
person who either yearns to fish again or needs a vehicle to
help them regain confidence in themselves while being part of
the community.
Your help can make a positive difference in a
person’s life that truly counts.
I want to share a bittersweet personal story
that brought happiness to a person who loved being on the lake
again after being sidelined by a debilitating
illness.
STORY: While working at
Bass Pro Shop in Memphis as the supervisor of the
Fishing Department, I met this guy named Val who was
restricted to a wheel chair due to a
stroke.
He was a people person and loved to fish. Back
in his early days, Val fished with some of the Pros and knew
them all very well.
He approached me one day and said that he knew
of a fishing tournament for physically challenged individuals
scheduled to place in Brownsville Tennessee and would I like to
fish it with him.
I said sure I was up for that kind of thing and
I had just gotten my new boat that had plenty of room. Val was
so excited that he was going to get to fish again and in a
tournament.
Val got with me a few days later. He had gone
home and got all the paperwork and brought it to the store for
me filling out the parts that I had to such as Insurance,
safety, and mailed it off.
He would zip around the store telling everyone
that he was going to be in this tournament that was coming up
and he was so glad to be able to fish
again.
Well, the Saturday morning came up and I
was to pick Val up at 4am. When I rounded the corner,
there he was with all his things out by the street. To
tell you the truth, I think he spent the night out
there.
We got his things loaded and we were off to
Brownsville. It did not take that long to get there and when we
did arrive, the lake was not open yet. With about 1 1/2
hours to wait, we went to have breakfast and met with some
other guys that were going to
fish.
As I Looked around, it seemed to me that
everyone had a glow about them and were talking about the old
days full of stories about the fish they had caught in the
past. Then it came to me that we take things for granted and do
not see what joy we can bring to a few people who love our
sport and have been struck down, but never give
up.
After breakfast, we proceeded back to the lake
that was now open with a lot folks there helping with the
tournament. They helped get Val into my boat and secure him to
the seat before proceeding to back my boat into the
lake.
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