Northside Sun - Hunter Safety Awareness
On October 5, 1991, 16-year-old Robbie Sullivan went bow hunting by himself on family land. That day he chose to hunt the furthest stand, nestled approximately a mile and a half back in the woods after driving as far as he could in his truck. The stand had seen better days, and this was before safety harnesses. The stand was an old ten-foot-tall wooden lean-to stand with a piece of plywood on top, no railing around it with a blue milk crate to sit on. After a while Robbie got bored, stood up and pulled back on his bow. Although something he had done many times before, this time something went wrong.
“When I pulled back my bow, somehow, I pulled it back wrong. I pulled it back and my shoulder dislocated. So, in pain from it dislocating I sat down on the milk crate,” shares Robbie. The pain from the dislocation must have been more than Robbie could have ever anticipated, causing him to pass out and roll out of the deer stand, falling to the ground. “I somehow flipped completely around. I don’t know how in the world it happened, but I was facing the opposite direction when I woke up at seven thirty, roughly thirty minutes later.”
The fall caused Robbie to crush his spine around his T-6 vertebrae, right below his chest. Medical professionals called his injury the worst spinal cord injury they had ever seen at the time due to the extreme damage sustained. At 16 years of age, while lying there waiting for help to come, Robbie knew he would probably never walk again. “I didn’t know yet to what extent I was injured, but I knew I shouldn’t try to move since I couldn’t feel anything.”
Robbie had the foresight to begin processing and coming to terms with the potential certainty of living out the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Robbie shares his positive attitude and what his five-hour mental cycle was like, “I had just started at my current school, and I really hadn’t met anybody, but I did remember that there were two guys in my school in wheelchairs. And I thought ‘Man, if they can get around, I can do this stuff.’ I just decided that I was gonna do it!”
Robbie lay on the ground helpless and immobile for five hours. Thankfully that is when his uncle found him. He had been checking food plots getting prepared for rifle season, saw Robbie’s truck a few hours earlier around 10:30 and by lunchtime decided to go check on him. “The crazy thing is, during that time I heard something stomping behind me. It was a deer!”
Robbie spent two months at the Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson, MS and then went back home to finish high school on time. He visited the scene of the accident one weekend during his stint at Methodist and they tore the original stand down and his dad set up a ground blind in its place. Robbie still hunts to this day. One way he hunts is with the Hickory Ridge Chapter, based out of Florence, of Hope Outdoors, an organization who assists those with disabilities enjoy the outdoors by hunting and fishing.
He credits his parents for being so supportive and helping him get back to life after the accident, and his wife and kids. “Just keep living, that’s all you can do.” Robbie has received vehicle modifications which help him do all the extracurricular activities he is involved in independently from The Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services (MDRS). Robbie is the Chief Financial Officer/Sports Coordinator for the Metro Area Community Empowerment – “Rollin’ Tigers Recreational Services” (MACE). MACE - Mississippi provides recreational opportunities through basketball, tennis, and softball.
The Rolling Tigers program gives opportunities for individuals with spinal cord injuries, like Robbie, to compete in wheelchair sports and promote physical fitness. Individuals with spinal cord injuries and brain injuries may have physical limitations, but there is no limit to their desire for social and recreational activities. MDRS helps fund this Prevention and Education Project under the Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury Trust Fund Grant facilitated by the Office of Special Disabilities Programs.
“I mean, I was 16. I know I thought I was bulletproof. You never think something like that will happen to you. But the thing is, it could. So maybe somebody will take that from my story.” Robbie is also an advocate for safe hunting measures, “I would say if you can help it, don’t
go by yourself, always wear a safety harness, wear hunters’ orange, and make sure to check the integrity of a hunting stand year after year, for everything. Check your bolts, welds, the integrity of the wood, and the railing around it. If it doesn’t have railing, then add it. My biggest regret of the day I got hurt was not wearing a safety harness because not having that restraint is what caused me to fall out. It was a fluke; I’d pulled that bow back a hundred times before.” Robbie is thankful that he didn’t land on an arrow. That’s how he knows he was meant for more. “I tell people to get off the couch and get out and do something. That’s partly my job is doing different things. But the main goal is just getting people out of their shell. I know a lot of people think, especially after they get hurt, that it’s the end of their world. It’s not. If you try to get in touch with anybody, get in touch with MDRS. They have connections with organizations whether it’s jobs, sports, or hunting related. They can connect you with others who have lived through life altering events and would love to talk with you.”
The Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services is a state agency that provides resources to help Mississippians with disabilities find new careers, live more independently, overcome obstacles, and face new challenges. Our employees are dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the people we serve. Visit www.mdrs.ms.gov to learn more or call 1-800-443-1000 to speak to someone about a service listed in this article.
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