Media

Benefit set for teen who lost leg in accident

Monday, September 22, 2014

Susan McFarland

The benefit to be held for Clint Crain on Sept. 25

Photo: Clint Crain lost his leg in a boating accident. The community is invited to attend a fundraiser to raise money for a prosthetic leg set for Sept. 25.

Hargrave High School freshman, Clint Crain, had a very challenging summer. On July 2, he was out boating with his family on Houston County Lake when he fell off the back of the boat, severely cutting his leg on the propeller. After losing copious amounts of blood, Clint had his right leg amputated above the knee at the East Texas Medical Center in Crockett.

The medical expenses associated with Clint’s injuries have overwhelmed his parents. Clint’s mom, Kingwood High School Counselor Julie Crain, said that although they are insured, they still need to cover 20 percent of Clint’s medical costs. In addition, Clint is hoping to get the newest generation microprocessor prosthetic leg, the Genium X3, which will cost $75,000.

A local fundraiser has been organized to help with the costs. The benefit will be held Thursday, Sept. 25, at the outdoor Humble Civic Arena from 6-9 p.m. The event will feature Todd Huston.

Huston is an inspirational speaker, author, world record holder, and amputee, who volunteered to speak at the event. “Todd was in a similar boating accident when he was 14,” said Julie Crain. “He lives in Oklahoma and there was a local boating accident. When he Googled it, Clint’s story came up. He contacted me because he wanted to send Clint a copy of his book. Then, a few weeks later he texted me that he would be in the Houston area and that he would love to speak at a fundraiser for Clint. We are really excited to meet him, to hear his story and to help Clint,” said Julie Crain.

With one prosthetic leg, Huston set a world record when he climbed to the highest elevations of all 50 states in 66 days, 22 hours and 47 minutes. According to his website, Huston has been featured in thousands of publications throughout the world, including Sports Illustrated, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and “Chicken Soup for the Soul, A Second Helping.” He has appeared as a special guest on “CBS Year in Sports” and Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power” and has been interviewed on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, TNN, “Inside Edition” and “Extra,” plus numerous radio programs.

To make a donation or for more information, go to gofundme.com/Clint-Crain. There is no set fee to attend the fundraiser, though donations will be welcome. Read Full Article

Amputee Climber Delivers Motivational Speech at Cameron

October 9, 2013 at 6:42 PM CDT – Updated July 11 at 1:46 PM

LAWTON Okla_ A record-setting mountain climber from Oklahoma shared his story at Cameron University Wednesday night. What makes his accomplishment special, is he only has one leg.

His name is Todd Huston. He lost his leg when he was 14 after it got caught in a boat propeller.

The record he holds is for climbing to the highest elevation in each of the 50 states, in just 66 days.  Now he tours the country as an author and a motivational speaker.

Huston told the crowd he didn’t let his disability hold him back, so they shouldn’t hold themselves back from whatever they hope to achieve.

Dealing with struggles makes us stronger

JIM HARRIS

CONSERVATIVE CORNER

So many people these days moan about being a victim of something. They can’t live up to their full potential in life because somebody did something to them that they can’t get over or they were a victim of circumstances. After that, why try to make a success out of your life? If you are a victim, failure is not your fault

That is why it was so good to get to meet Todd Huston last week. At the age of 14, he was being pulled by the family ski boat on an Oklahoma lake. He got entangled in the rope attached to the tube he had been riding on and the boat started backing up.

He screamed for someone in his family to stop the boat, but nobody heard him over the sound of the motor. His legs got caught in the propeller of the boat.

He was technically dead twice before his condition was stabilized in the hospital. He kept both legs but had no feeling in his right leg.

Todd went from being a student-athlete to being the kid on the sidelines wearing a Forrest Gump-like brace. Bone disease set in and eventually forced him to have his right leg amputated below the knee at age 21.

He had to learn to walk again using an artificial leg. He describes how he fell many times during the learning process. “It is not how many times you fall that counts, but what you get back up every time,” Todd says.

If anyone could claim to be a victim, it was Todd. The genuine horror he went through could easily have destroyed his life.

He did what anyone would have done.

He asked over and over again: “Why me,

God?”

But he decided that God must have had a reason for keeping him alive. Todd says we should all do our best because you never know what greatness is being prepared for us.

Todd became a psychotherapist and clinical director of the Amputee Resource Center in California. He also worked in psychiatric hospitals for adults, adolescents, and children.

He married a woman from New Zealand, but after two years she became an American citizen and left him after cleaning out their bank account.

In the middle of this despair, another door opened. He was offered an opportunity to climb the highest mountains in all 50 states with a group of handicapped people. He signed up for it, but the project was canceled because the funding didn’t come through.

Rather than feel sorry for himself, Todd decided he would raise the money and do the mountain climbing himself.

He started by printing t-shirts that he sold for $12 each. The man who had started Hooked on Phonics heard about what he was doing and agreed to fund the entire adventure.

Using an artificial leg with a built-in shock-absorber, Todd did the unimaginable. He completed a world-record-setting Summit America expedition by climbing to the highest elevations of all 50 states in only 66 days, 22 hours and 47 minutes. He beat the previous record set by a man with two legs by 35 days.

On one of his climbs, Todd met a man who was a publisher. He heard Todd‘s story and wanted him to write a book about his adventures. Todd wrote “More Than Mountains: The Todd Huston Story.” The book has been an inspiration to millions of people. This man who could have let his life be ruined by one horrible thing has gone on to be featured in thousands of publications around the world. He has been covered by Sports Illustrated, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal as well as the popular book, Chicken Soup for the Soul A Second Helping.

He has appeared as a special guest on CBS Year in Sports and Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power. He has been interviewed on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, TNN, Inside Edition, and Extra plus numerous national

radio programs. Most people would have thought he would never amount to anything after that boating accident. He could easily have spent his life on painkilling drugs and nobody would have blamed him because he was a victim come to the bad things that had happened to him and succeed.

There is a lesson to be learned for all of us from his story. Nobody’s life is perfect. It is not that we avoid obstacles in our lives that define us. Instead, it is how we deal with them that determines our character.

Jim Harris is chief of staff in the Saline County Circuit Clerk’s office.

AJCA Leadership Summit

Cattlemen’s group holds 52nd convention

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The 52nd Annual Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association (ACA) Convention and Trade Show will be held Aug. 13-15 in Fort Smith at the Fort Smith Convention Center.

Cattlemen and Junior Cattlemen from all regions of Arkansas will gather to enjoy informative beef improvement seminars, industry updates, cattlemen-to-cattlemen fellowship, and an extensive trade show. Registration begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 13. The general public and members are invited and welcomed to attend.

Welcome reception on the trade show floor will kick off the event on Friday at 4 p.m. The Arkansas Cattlemen’s Foundation will be hosting a scholarship auction on Friday evening after dinner followed by an ACA Young Cattlemen’s Reception. All young cattle producers are invited and encouraged to attend.

The Trade Show will re-open from 8 a.m. — 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 14. The ACA is organizing ‘Cowboy Capers’ that will start at 9 a.m. and should be a good time for all.

The Arkansas Junior Cattlemen’s Association will begin their AJCA Leadership Summit on Saturday at 1 p.m. with an opening session featuring motivational speaker Todd Huston.

The Leadership Summit will continue throughout the day with educational break-out sessions for the attendees.

The ACA Beef Improvement Seminars will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association will host Kristina Butts, manager of legislative affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; John Fitch, executive director of the Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Commission; Travis Justice, administrator for the Arkansas Beef Council; Michael Sullivan, Arkansas State Conservationist of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service; Dr. Dan U. Thomson, director of the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University; and Dr. Tom Troxel, Associate Animal Science Department Head for the University of Arkansas.

On Saturday evening, the awards banquet will take place at 7:30 p.m. followed by entertainment provided by Phil McGarrah and Runnin’ on Empty. The Arkansas Junior Cattlemen’s Association will announce its Educational Award winners at the banquet and host a hypnotist after the banquet for the AJCA attendees’ entertainment.

The Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association encourages all who are interested to come to the Annual Convention and Trade Show. Read Full Article 

For more information, call the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association Office at (501) 224-2114 or email info@arbeef.org.

Class of 2013 graduates from McPherson High

The McPherson High School class of 2013 was showered with cheers, applause, and advice during graduation ceremonies Saturday.

The McPherson High School class of 2013 was showered with cheers, applause, and advice during graduation ceremonies Saturday.

Following the entrance of the graduates to “Fanfare and Processional” played by the MHS band and orchestra, Principal Bret McClendon congratulated them and gave two pieces of advice. The first was to be nice, as they will never know what help they may need from acquaintances in the future. The second was to vote, as that is a right they will have no matter what their life circumstances.

“Changes are coming your way. Life, as you have known it for the past 13 years, is over,” he said. “If that doesn’t scare you, it should. If it doesn’t excite you, it should. Society will now treat you like adults and expect you to act like adults. The stakes are higher, as are the opportunities … We know you will do great things.”

Three student speakers offered their own suggestions for their classmates.

Class President Casey Gregory reminded the class of events they experienced while in school together and encouraged them to not take them for granted. Examples were apocalypse scares, the teacher inside jokes and the Kansas earthquakes of 2011.

“Be proud that you’re here,” he said. “Be proud that you’ve made it. We’ve made it. The future is finally here.”

Salutatorian Adam Boyer preferred to soak up the here and now, and cherish the little time they had left together.

“Don’t wait until the ceremony is over to contemplate exactly how you feel sitting in those chairs. This is your time to look around and say, ‘I’m here.’ We need to live our last few moments at McPherson High School without regrets. Let’s share the time we have left together.”

Valedictorian Sidney Boswell viewed the future as being an opportunity to try new things. The 130th graduating class will make a difference no matter what path they choose, she said.

“That’s the beauty of the future — it’s all a mystery,” she said. “Most of us have a vague idea about what we’re going to do, but not much more than that. And the great part is, it doesn’t matter … because we have all these years to figure it out. … In the end, we get to choose what direction we want to go in our lives. We can test the waters, and most of all, have fun.”

The message of featured speaker Todd Huston was one of hope and endurance. The author and psychotherapist lost his leg as a teenager due to a boating accident but was later the first disabled person to climb to the top of every U.S. state.

“The idea was to encourage everyone that we all have this strength within us,” he said. “Whatever challenges you may have … you can overcome any of those challenges. You are living proof of that. You have overcome graduation, and for that I congratulate you. You are now going to be the new leaders, you’re now going to be the ones changing the world.”

Huston used his life story to share nuggets of life advice for the graduates. For example, he once thought would never walk again.

“There’s going to be times when you’re going to go through something that is really tough, and it’s going to feel like an eternity when you take each one of those steps,” he said. “But don’t ever give up. … Some of those battles are going to last a long time, but whether it’s short or long, you have everything it takes in you to overcome.”

He stressed life is not about making mistakes, but getting up every time one falls. And it’s also about what’s in their hearts.

“You have no idea how big your life might turn out,” he said. “But it’s not going to be measured by whether or not you’re the richest or the smartest or the greatest. Measure it by those things that really matter. Do you have love in your life? Do you love others? Do you have peace in your life? Do you have joy? Measure your wealth by what’s in your heart and what you’re able to give to the hearts of others.”

The MHS class of 2013, he said, has many opportunities to do this.

“You have unlimited potential,” he said. “Yes, you have accomplished a lot, and that’s why you’re sitting here today. But you have not accomplished anything compared to what you’re capable of accomplishing during the rest of your life.” Full Story

Dream Institute Honors Todd Huston with 8th Annual Power to DREAM

 November 14th Awards Banquet

The DREAM Institute will be honoring Todd Huston with the 8th Annual Power to DREAM

Achiever Award on November 14, 2011, at the Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills. We will be honoring the 2011 DREAM Institute Scholars and one scholar who has recently graduated with his degree. The Institute will also be presenting The Carolyn Dubie Memorial Trustee Award .for Excellence to Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The keynote speaker will be Todd Huston

Todd Huston knows how to overcome incredible challenges. When his legs got caught in the propeller of a boat at age 14, his life was radically changed.. Ht: battled to keep his legs with numerous surgeries, but the bone disease eventually forced him to have one leg amputated. Todd became n psychotherapist and clinical director of the Amputee Resource Center in California. He also worked in psychiatric hospitals for adults, adolescents, and children. He used his professional skills and personal experiences to help patients achieve more in their lives. He also trained health·care professionals in working with individuals coping with disabilities. Todd speaks worldwide inspiring others to overcome adversities despite their challenges. The power to DREAM Achiever award is a bronze sculpture of the institute’s logo, a child reaching for a star and is awarded yearly to someone who has overcome adversity and is giving back to help others overcome their adversities.

I am requesting that you consider becoming a sponsor of this year’s great event. As a sponsor of the event, you will receive recognition in the event program, Institute publications, and receive a tax-deductible receipt of which a percentage of your seat (s) is tax-deductible sponsorship form). Also, your sponsorship will go towards the 2012 scholarship programs.

Your participation in the 8tlt Annual Power to DREAM Achieloers Awtml Ceremony will send a strong and positive message to Oklahoma students, educators, and families as well as communities that you care about educational excellence and that regardless of one’s challenges in life, higher education is vital in today’s world. You wil1 play a major role in building a greater tomorrow and grooming the next generation of community leaders.

Thank you in advance for your consideration. I hope to see you on November 14, 2011.

If you have any questions please contact us at 918-660~3408, or be e-mail dream (dreaminstitute.org. Our website is www.dreaminstitute.org.

Original Letter

Mission Possible: Becoming the Best You!

Mission Possible: Becoming the Best You!

September 26-28, 2014

South Shore Harbour Resort

League City, Texas

Planning for our 5th Annual Conference is well underway and registration information will be distributed in June. We are so excited about our speaker line up and want to highlight our Friday Keynote Luncheon speaker.

Todd Huston is The World’s Only Disabled Athlete to Hold a World Record in an Able-Bodied Sport: Mountain Climbing. His Story Inspires and Shows How to Overcome Any Challenge! Todd Huston has overcome incredible challenges. When his legs got caught in the propeller of a boat at age 14, his life was almost ended. He died twice but was revived both times. He battled to keep his legs with numerous surgeries but eventually had one leg amputated. Then, Todd did the unimaginable: he set a world record by climbing the highest elevations in all 50 states with ONLY one leg in one of the most extreme and dangerous sports that exists (mountain climbing). Today, he is the only disabled athlete to hold a world record in an able-bodied sport.

Life is full of challenges. When faced with such difficulties in life, each person has to decide how they will embrace and overcome their own challenges, but it is important for people to remember that they are not alone. Todd has been speaking to audiences around the world for 15 years. His inspirational talk, which includes humor, insight, courage, and hope will serve as a catalyst for overcoming life challenges.

Todd’s message is so powerful, he has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Forbes, L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal and on CBS, ABC, CNN, Inside Edition, and EXTRA.

Man loses leg to boat propeller

6:00 p.m. Monday, July 7, 2014

An accident happens on Grand Lake

By Camie Hayes

It is summertime and that means fun times out on Oklahoma rivers and lakes. Sadly, accidents happen even in the water. Over this July 4th weekend, there was a severe boating accident that took place at Grand Lake in the very popular Dripping Springs Cove. KRMG learned that a young man jumped into the lake behind a boat. The boat didn’t see the man, and backed into him, shredding his legs with the boat’s propeller. GRDA confirms to KRMG that a young man did lose part of one leg from a boating accident.

New information from KRMG’s partner TV Station, FOX 23, confirms that the young man lost a large portion of his lower right leg. Off the clock, trained medics and others were in the area when the accident occurred and was able to help the young man. KRMG contacted Tulsa resident Todd Huston, who like the young man at Grand Lake, suffered a similar tragedy over a July 4th weekend when he was 14 years old. Todd was at Lake Tenkiller skiing with his family, when the boat backed into and shredded his legs. It changed his life. Todd eventually lost one leg due to nerve damage.

Despite multiple setbacks, he has rebuilt his life to where he is a motivational speaker – all because of the accident. Todd believes there is hope for this young man, despite what happened. “I have been able to make lemonade out of lemons. And what I will say, [about] this young man that just got hit. It may seem like the life that he knew is never going to happen. All the hopes and dreams that he had had… It is going to be a shock to him… This was nothing that he was able to prepare for…I don’t know what he’s going to do with it. But, he’s probably going to bounce back to a lot of people’s amazement and probably go on and do some great things.” Accidents involving boat propellers are more frequent than most people imagine.

There are several factors to the problem: people are distracted, they are partying, loud music is playing, and alcohol can be involved. According to Todd, there is no sound until a boat propeller hits a person, and from there it is a race against time to try and save a person. Full Article

 

An Uphill Battle

October 11, 1994

JIM WASHBURN | SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

An Uphill Battle: Todd Huston, whose right leg was amputated 12 years ago, has an artificial limb for everyday use, but on special occasions, he uses the one that lets him move mountains–by climbing them.

 

IRVINE — Todd Huston has three right legs. There’s the phantom one, the leg he still senses as being there, though it was amputated 12 years ago. “I can still tell you exactly where each of my toes is,” he says.

There is his everyday leg, with a flesh-toned exterior and cosmetic toes. And then there is his mountain climbing leg, a bare graphite, metal, and fiberglass Terminator-looking appendage with a boot’s Vibrum sole glued right to the heel. That sole is worn and crumbling at the edges, as one might expect of one used in setting a world record.

We were talking at the Sports Club, Irvine, where Huston trains. Earlier this year Huston, 33, scaled the highest point in each of the 50 states in 66 days, beating the previous record of 101 days set by an able-bodied man in 1990.

Some of those summits were downright comical, such as Britton Hill, which at 345 feet above sea level is the highest spot in Florida. Then there’s Delaware’s dimple of a peak, Ebright Azimuth, “which happened to be in the middle of a street, right outside of Wilmington,” Huston said. “But it took us several tries to get a picture there because there was so much traffic.”

At the other extreme was Alaska’s Mt. McKinley, the highest point in North America and 20,320 feet of mean. Huston was climbing in minus-35 degree weather there, while Texas’ Guadalupe Peak was scaled in 118-degree heat. On other heights, he was beset by biting black flies or high winds. Just getting from climb to climb was an effort, often driving 500 miles a day, and sometimes rerouting to dodge tornadoes.

It’s a trek that few complete, only 37 including Huston to date. He is the first one-legged man to attempt it. Rather than dwell on the hardships his unique status imposed, he prefers to joke about the advantages. “I only had five toes to worry about getting frostbite.

I only had to worry about one ankle twisting. My right calf muscle never got sore. So I had a leg up on other climbers. Did I ever feel de-feeted? No,” he said.

Huston, a Balboa Island resident, is a psychotherapist who is a clinical director of the Amputee Resource Center at Brea’s NovaCare Orthotics and Prosthetics, helping amputees to deal with the trauma of limb loss.

Huston’s own trauma began at age 14 when he was water skiing with his family in Oklahoma. He had been in the water untangling the ski rope when the family’s boat slipped into reverse.

“I was yelling ‘Stop the engine,’ but no one could hear me, and I had one of these big heavy water skiing jackets on and couldn’t swim, so the boat hit me, and it sucked both my legs into the propeller,” he recalled. “When they pulled me out of the water there was blood squirting six to eight feet out of my body. My left leg was completely open and the whole backside was missing from my right leg.”

A nerve had been severed in his right leg, paralyzing it. Doctors told his family he probably wouldn’t walk again. A month and a half later he was barely able to walk out of the hospital “on legs like spaghetti noodles.”

By the time he was in college, the reduced circulation in his paralyzed leg caused it to become infected, resulting in lengthy hospitalizations that often kept him from attending classes or working.

“After a whole series of operations, that eventually led to the decision to just amputate the leg. So at age 21, I chose to have my leg amputated because what I wanted was to have a life and a lifestyle over a leg.

“It’s a very tough decision because it’s permanent. You can’t do it and go, ‘Oops, wrong decision, let’s go back.’ I knew I’d have to live with it for the rest of my life.

“When they did it I was wide-awake on the operating table, with not even an aspirin in me, for two reasons. One: I wanted to feel I had more control over the situation than my disease did, and two: If you’re anesthetized, after surgery you can’t eat pizza. And I love to eat pizza after surgery. So after I had my leg amputated I went back to my room and ate pizza.”

Huston wore a conventional prosthetic leg for a decade, which permitted him to live a productive life, though not a physically active one. “I could not take more than four or five running steps without tremendous pain and couldn’t walk over half a mile at any one time. At night I’d have these vivid dreams about running in a field.”

After breaking a couple of conventional legs with his exertions, two years ago he got his insurance company to spring for a new leg, called a Flex-Foot manufactured in Aliso Viejo. Its design, which includes a shock absorber and spring-like flexible graphite, responded more like a real limb.

“Initially I could only run about 100 feet with it, I was so out of shape. I called everybody I knew the day I was finally able to run all the way around Balboa Island. After three months I was able to run all the way to Laguna and beyond.”

 

Amputee sets world record in climbing

By Teri L. Hansen
Staff Writer

Sep. 15, 2014 @ 11:23 am

MOUNDRIDGE

At 14, Todd Huston died twice.

After a traumatic boating accident, doctors battled to save his life and revive him after he was clinically dead two times. They succeeded both times.

After years of trials, turmoil, and challenges, Huston has become a world-renown inspiration. Thursday night the residents of Moundridge were given the chance to meet this author and motivational speaker at the annual Chamber of Commerce dinner.

“This is life for me,” Huston said. “When I’m not traveling and speaking is when it’s hard for me.”

During a water-skiing trip in eastern Oklahoma, Huston found himself in the water with the boat holding his family and friends backing up toward him. Despite his frantic yelling, no one could hear him, and he was hit, his legs sucking into the propeller. After being thrown around by the powerful propeller, his father reached into the bloodred water and pulled him out. His legs were mangled.

“I thought at the time, ‘Why?,’ Huston said. “Why is this happening to me?”

At the dock, there happened to be a doctor and nurse who gave him first aid and called an ambulance. At the first hospital, he was sent to, the emergency room doctor was overheard telling his staff, “I don’t think this kid is going to make it.”

From there he was transferred to a larger facility where he died on the operating table, not once, but twice. When he woke up, he found his right leg didn’t have any skin on the back. After sewing his hand to his leg to increase blood flow, they grafted skin to his leg and covered him in a body cast.

After spending time in a wheelchair, on crutches and in a metal brace, it was clear that his body wasn’t going to be the same. His right leg was paralyzed everywhere below the knee. The former teen athlete now had a leg that was, for lack of a better word, useless.

“I was always playing football as a kid,” Huston said. “Now I couldn’t even sit in a chair at school for too long, because my spine stuck out from all the weight I had lost.”

For seven years, Huston struggled with a leg that no longer listened to him and worse. It was no longer able to tell him when something was wrong. He would step on nails or glass and not feel it. He’d get home, take his shoe off and find a bloody, mess. Eventually, he battled infections.

“It was pretty disgusting,” Huston said.

At 21 years old, Huston had his leg amputated in order to save his life, as the infections were taking their toll. With only localized numbing below the waist, Huston had his leg removed below the knee, without anesthesia.

That’s when I realized that, in one way or another, everyone has challenges,”

Huston said, “but those challenges are really opportunities — opportunities to find out what you are truly made of.”

The first step on his prosthetic leg, which was not as advanced as prosthetics are now, was excruciating. Of course, for the pain, doctors prescribed him painkillers. After a couple of years, he found himself addicted to those painkillers. His addiction came to a head one day when he found himself believing he had overdosed. In that moment, he asked God for a chance to make it right.

He didn’t overdose, and since that day, he has taken only two painkillers in his life — one after having his wisdom teeth removed, and one after he twisted his one remaining ankle. He doesn’t drink alcohol or even soda pop.

“The decision to change something in your life is only one moment away,” Huston said. “Live your life moment by moment by moment with passion.”

Huston went to grad school and became a psychotherapist. While working in California, he met a woman. They married quickly because she was from New Zealand, and there were immigration issues to consider. After two years of marriage, once she had received her citizenship, Huston came home to find her gone. They had agreed to move prior, so he had quit his job and already had given notice they were vacating their home. He was left with no wife, no job, no home, and his bank account had been cleaned out.

“All in one week,” he said. “So I guess you can say I had a pretty rough week.”

Shortly after he received a letter from Chicago requesting him to be a part of a team of people who had disabilities who were going to climb the highest elevations in all 50 states. He began training immediately. After 16 years of not running, he began running again.

“I discovered something about running,” he said with a laugh. “I hate it!”

One month before the expedition was set to start, it was canceled. Huston still wanted to do it, so he decided to raise the $50,000 necessary for him to go. John Shanahan, the owner of Hooked on Phonics, heard about the expedition and was impressed. He donated all of the money necessary for the trip.

So off Huston went. Every state, every elevation. From the highest point in Delaware, in the middle of a street, to the 23,323-foot Mt. McKinley in Alaska. And yes, even Kansas.

“Which wasn’t that difficult, I’ll tell you,” he said.

He encountered wild animals on his journeys, such as bears, rattlesnakes, and wild horses. He suffered sunburns in places he thought couldn’t be sunburned, such as the roof of his mouth. He slept in a tent and burrowed into the snow for shelter from blizzards and avalanches. In his home state of Oklahoma, he found a class of fifth-graders waiting for him at the top of Black Mesa to cheer him on and hear his story.

Huston not only did what many thought was impossible, but he also did it fast. Really fast. The previous record-holder, Adrian Crane, climbed the 50 states in 101 days. Huston did it in 66 days, 22 hours and 47 minutes, making him the new record holder. Not only that, he is now the only disabled person in the world to break an able-bodied sporting record. It was tough, frightening and chaotic.

“Fear is not real, it only exists in your mind,” Huston said. “Fear nothing and love all. Love will make you climb mountains.”

Huston has been on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, TBN, C-SPAN, Inside Edition, Extra and Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power. He’s been featured in Sports Illustrated, L.A Times, Wall Street Journal and Forbes. He is the author of “More Than Mountains: The Todd Huston Story,” which is being adapted into a screenplay. For more information on Todd Huston, visit www.toddhuston. com.

Read more: http://www.mcphersonsentinel.com/article/20140915/News/140919587#ixzz3EB0EZ2pb

1 2 3

Current & Past Clients

What They Are Saying

HONORS

Recent Blog Posts