Today my club manned an indoor range for kids at a Sportsman's Expo. There were 4 shooting positions, with one of us manning each position. There were a variety of recurves and Genesis compound bows for the kids to choose from, and they shot at targets with animal silhouettes and balloons on them, about 10 yards away. Occasionally a dollar bill would fall out of one of the busted balloons. This wasn't a class, but we offered whatever instruction each kid needed to get his or her 5 arrows off safely, which varied from a lot to none, depending on the kid. The kids were allowed to get back in line after shooting their 5 arrows and shoot again if they wanted to, and quite a few did. From the time the Expo opened at 9:30 until the end of our club's shift at 2:30, there was always a line of kids and all 4 shooting positions were active unless we were pulling arrows.
I wasn't paying any attention to the line, because I thought it was my job to give whatever kid I had a good experience and my undivided attention while he or she was shooting. Whenever I finished with one kid, there was a guy at the head of the line whose job it was to direct the next kid to my position. So I turn around and this kid shows up at my shooting position who is about 5-6 years old, and has only one complete arm and the other one ends just below the elbow. Most kids of that age, I would be holding the bow with them as they shot to help direct their arrows and help them pull the bow back, and the first thought that entered my mind was to do that with him; I would be his string hand.
But I asked him the standard questions anyway: Do you know how to shoot the bow? yes. Do you want to shoot a right or left handed bow? right handed. Do you want to shoot a recurve or a compound? a compound. Since he answered the questions without hesitating, after I got him a bow, I asked him if he wanted my help? no.
So he held the bow in his left hand, and hooked the little bit of forearm that God left him on his right arm around the string, and shot 5 arrows into the target, which is better than the majority of the other kids, at ages from about 5 to 80, were able to do.
His parents were watching, but hadn't come up with him to the shooting line, and they shot after he did. I took my cue from them, and other than telling him he had done a great job getting all 5 arrows in the target, I didn't make a big deal about it. I assume at some point he can get a prosthetic, but maybe while he is growing it isn't a good idea, I don't know. I used to know a man who was a good shot who had a prosthetic arm, and I hope this little guy can do that some day.
What a blessing, though, for me to be able to be a part of this, and for him to have just enough of a forearm to be able to pull it off.
Topic: Blessings (Read 687 times)
