In February of 2009, Ty Hockett’s life was turned upside down in an unpredictable car accident ejecting him from the vehicle, shattering his C5, C6, and C7, leaving him a quadriplegic; but that’s not the highlight of Ty’s life. Being homeschool in Kansas, Ty grew up in the outdoors with his father teaching him the ins and outs of hunting with his pup by his side.
Now 27 years old, Ty lives in Southwest Ohio with his wife and pup and still hunts as much as he can. Though an accident like the one Ty was involved in would likely stifle most, his love for the outdoors has bloomed even more since the incident. “I realized that just because I wasn’t able to walk anymore doesn’t mean that I had to stop hunting; it gave me the opportunity to tell my story and show others’ they can hunt, too.”
At the age of thirteen, he fell in love with capturing the moments of his hunts through the lens of a camera. His love for photography and the outdoors soon became one, and have only increased as the years have gone by. Max Ackerman reached out to Ty with regard to making a film about his story and his platform. Through this film, Ty was able to go to Illinois to hunt with Max, as well as have Max come to hunt with him in Ohio. When Ty talked about his time in Illinois, he said it was one of the few times that his wife had not hunted with him, and it was the first time he had been back in a boat since his accident. “When I got to Illinois, Max was like ‘how do you feel about getting in a boat?’ and before I could answer ‘Let’s do it’, Evan said ‘put him in my boat’. And we put me in the boat, the chair in the boat, then me back in the chair. It was incredible.”
Aside from hunting, Ty loves spending time training his dog, Minnie. Ty has not only himself trained Minnie to be a fully functioning service dog, but she’s also a badass duck dog. Besides Minnie, Ty and his wife Courtney have two other dogs. Courtney and Ty’s relationship has overcome the difficulties from the accident since the time they were dating, and continue to in their marriage. Together they have learned to conquer adversity, and both have watched each other grow and mature through their relationship. Courtney hunts with Ty 99% of the time; she has a pretty flexible work schedule allowing them to hunt before she goes into work. Hockett is also very active in hand cycling. “After my accident, I wanted a way to build upper body strength and be in shape, and my dad was always into cycling, so I picked up hand cycling. As soon as hunting season ends, I start training.”
Ty knows that special equipment such as a grip motor chair makes a world of difference, especially in snow or mud, but those things are expensive on top of all the gear to hunt. Ty also said, “I wish there was an easier duck call to blow, it’s hard on my stomach muscles.”
Hockett hopes that over the next five years he continues to hunt and grows in his videography and photography. “I have never been driven by money, I drive an old car and live in a small house. Whether I am filming my hunt or someone else’s, I just want to be in the outdoors.”
“There’s this idea that disabled people can’t hunt,” said Hockett when talking about getting back into the outdoors after his accident. He said after his accident he knew that he could still go outdoors to train his dog, ride his bike, or even hunt. Hockett knew that it was not going to be the same as it was before, but he wasn’t going to let a chair stop him from chasing his passions.
Lauren Brady for SPLIT REED
