Camron Tribolet lay unconscious in critical condition at St. Joseph Hospital. His liver and kidneys had shut down after he was shot three times in the abdomen. While his parents made funeral arrangements, doctors tried unsuccessfully to prevent gangrene. As a result, he woke up three weeks later as a double amputee.
Today he downhill skis, builds decks and is an avid hunter.
'I wanted to push myself to the furthest point of my physical being,' he said, 21 years after rehab. 'Rock climbing is one of the things I've always wanted to do.'
Tribolet, 44, is a fire sprinkler engineer from Leo, where he lives with his wife, Sue, 43, son Braden, 13, and daughter Julia, 8. Twenty-one years ago, nobody would have expected him to be where he is now.
In August 1986, Tribolet was the victim of an apparently random, multiple shooting that landed him in the hospital, cost him his legs and ended his marriage engagement.
'I remember that day as clear as can be. She came into ICU, gave me the ring back and told me she couldn't marry me without legs,' he said. Unable to speak at the time, Tribolet remembers silently watching his fiancA© walk out of the room.
'I had lost everything and hit rock bottom. In a heartbeat, I lost my job, lost my self-esteem, my self-image. I remember contemplating suicide,' he said.
Entering rehab proved fateful for Tribolet, because it was there that he met Sue. He fell in love with her at first sight and succeeded in getting his doctor to make her his physical therapist. The two began dating when Tribolet was an outpatient, and within a year they were married.
'We just connected right off the bat,' Sue said. 'When you're 23 and you've just lost your legs, those superficial conversations kind of go by the wayside, and you have a lot of good discussions. He's extremely handsome too, and that doesn't hurt.'
Vowing to walk down the aisle at his wedding, Tribolet sought the help of a woman who once specialized in rehabilitating World War II veteran amputees. To the surprise of family, friends and especially doctors, Tribolet met his wife at the altar using two canes and prosthetic legs.
'I got into this thing where I wanted to try, 'What can I do now with no legs?'' said Tribolet, whose brother-in-law encouraged him to take up deer hunting. It was a new hobby that soon developed into a lifelong pastime.
Tribolet eventually came in contact with another amputee hunter, David Sullivan, the Disabled Services director for Buckmasters American Deer Foundation. The two became close friends and have since traveled widely, coordinating hunts for disabled people who wouldn't normally have the opportunity to hunt. He serves as a mentor and hunting guide today for children with disabilities.
'I don't think the guy's ever had a bad attitude. He has no bitterness and no remorse about what happened to him, and that carries over to other people,' said Sullivan. 'He serves as a great mentor to others who have been through hard times.'
In his photo album Tribolet keeps pictures of hunters and friends he has met over the years, each of whom has found creative ways to overcome different challenges. One picture shows a hunter, paralyzed from the chest up, who uses a specially designed 'sipping pump' apparatus to fire a gun. Some have found ways to fire guns using hooks. Tribolet says he began from a wheelchair, but was soon able to hunt on his feet. He prefers hunting from tree platforms, which he mounts by climbing ladders backward, rung by rung.
Over the past few weeks, Tribolet has used a wheelchair to help him recover from recent shoulder surgery. To get to his basement, he uses a 50-foot-long wooden ramp he built in the backyard of his home. He leaves the living room, rolls half-way down into the wooded area in his backyard, takes a sharp left turn past the pool area, and re-enters the house at the basement, where he has on display several stuffed deer, elk, antelope, boar and turkeys he has killed on his hunts.
Tribolet says his goal is to go hunting in Africa, 'but not from the back of a safari truck. I want to get down and dirty,' he said.
Tribolet attributes much of his recovery to his faith in God, which he discovered several years ago after experiencing a spiritual 'tug' at a small Kansas church while visiting a hunting partner. Today, he and his family are active members at Grabill Missionary Church. Looking back on his life, he says he now feels that everything happened for a purpose.
'I strongly believe I was supposed to be there that night on the road,' he said. 'I was supposed to get shot.'
www.gosalmonfishing.com
www.rifles-n-rods.com
Today he downhill skis, builds decks and is an avid hunter.
'I wanted to push myself to the furthest point of my physical being,' he said, 21 years after rehab. 'Rock climbing is one of the things I've always wanted to do.'
Tribolet, 44, is a fire sprinkler engineer from Leo, where he lives with his wife, Sue, 43, son Braden, 13, and daughter Julia, 8. Twenty-one years ago, nobody would have expected him to be where he is now.
In August 1986, Tribolet was the victim of an apparently random, multiple shooting that landed him in the hospital, cost him his legs and ended his marriage engagement.
'I remember that day as clear as can be. She came into ICU, gave me the ring back and told me she couldn't marry me without legs,' he said. Unable to speak at the time, Tribolet remembers silently watching his fiancA© walk out of the room.
'I had lost everything and hit rock bottom. In a heartbeat, I lost my job, lost my self-esteem, my self-image. I remember contemplating suicide,' he said.
Entering rehab proved fateful for Tribolet, because it was there that he met Sue. He fell in love with her at first sight and succeeded in getting his doctor to make her his physical therapist. The two began dating when Tribolet was an outpatient, and within a year they were married.
'We just connected right off the bat,' Sue said. 'When you're 23 and you've just lost your legs, those superficial conversations kind of go by the wayside, and you have a lot of good discussions. He's extremely handsome too, and that doesn't hurt.'
Vowing to walk down the aisle at his wedding, Tribolet sought the help of a woman who once specialized in rehabilitating World War II veteran amputees. To the surprise of family, friends and especially doctors, Tribolet met his wife at the altar using two canes and prosthetic legs.
'I got into this thing where I wanted to try, 'What can I do now with no legs?'' said Tribolet, whose brother-in-law encouraged him to take up deer hunting. It was a new hobby that soon developed into a lifelong pastime.
Tribolet eventually came in contact with another amputee hunter, David Sullivan, the Disabled Services director for Buckmasters American Deer Foundation. The two became close friends and have since traveled widely, coordinating hunts for disabled people who wouldn't normally have the opportunity to hunt. He serves as a mentor and hunting guide today for children with disabilities.
'I don't think the guy's ever had a bad attitude. He has no bitterness and no remorse about what happened to him, and that carries over to other people,' said Sullivan. 'He serves as a great mentor to others who have been through hard times.'
In his photo album Tribolet keeps pictures of hunters and friends he has met over the years, each of whom has found creative ways to overcome different challenges. One picture shows a hunter, paralyzed from the chest up, who uses a specially designed 'sipping pump' apparatus to fire a gun. Some have found ways to fire guns using hooks. Tribolet says he began from a wheelchair, but was soon able to hunt on his feet. He prefers hunting from tree platforms, which he mounts by climbing ladders backward, rung by rung.
Over the past few weeks, Tribolet has used a wheelchair to help him recover from recent shoulder surgery. To get to his basement, he uses a 50-foot-long wooden ramp he built in the backyard of his home. He leaves the living room, rolls half-way down into the wooded area in his backyard, takes a sharp left turn past the pool area, and re-enters the house at the basement, where he has on display several stuffed deer, elk, antelope, boar and turkeys he has killed on his hunts.
Tribolet says his goal is to go hunting in Africa, 'but not from the back of a safari truck. I want to get down and dirty,' he said.
Tribolet attributes much of his recovery to his faith in God, which he discovered several years ago after experiencing a spiritual 'tug' at a small Kansas church while visiting a hunting partner. Today, he and his family are active members at Grabill Missionary Church. Looking back on his life, he says he now feels that everything happened for a purpose.
'I strongly believe I was supposed to be there that night on the road,' he said. 'I was supposed to get shot.'
www.gosalmonfishing.com
www.rifles-n-rods.com