The Great Outdoors
Story: Superman’s Ram Goes Home
By: Don Martin, Outdoors Writer
August 16, 2006
The young man’s eyes widened and his jaw slowly dropped as he
watched in disbelief as the ram was getting closer and closer to
him.
“Superman, your ram is home,” I said as my eyes welled up with
tears.
That was the scene last Saturday evening in Jonesboro, AR as
16-year-old Christopher (Superman) Reeves was presented the ram
that he taken in Mohave County last December.
With that presentation a long nine month journey came to an end,
but the hope of a new and better life for this special young man
is our wish for this young sportsman, who so many of us have
grown fond of.
Reeves’ odyssey started last December after he received a desert
bighorns sheep tag that long time Arizona sportsman Norm Pint
had drawn after many years of applying.
Pint was taken from us in October after a tragic traffic
accident claimed his life.
Norm’s family graciously decided to donate the tag to Hunt Of A
Lifetime, and Reeves, whose dream was to go a sheep hunt, had
one of the two tags in Unit 16A transferred to him by the
Arizona Game & Fish Department.
But them Christopher’s world came crashing down. Reeves, who had
previously survived bone cancer, was diagnosed with leukemia
just a few days before the scheduled start of his
once-in-a-lifetime sheep hunt.
Only through the extraordinary efforts of some caring medical
people was Christopher allowed to come to Arizona. But the
caveat was that he had just two days to hunt.
I agreed to coordinate the hunt for HOAL and with the help of a
lot of great Arizona and Nevada people, and organizations like
the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, Reeves bagged his ram
of a lifetime the first day out.
But then came the reality of just how serious this illness was.
Reeves had to immediately go into St. Jude’s Children Hospital
in Memphis TN to start the long treatment.
During the next eight months, our Superman endured more than any
person should.
A stem cell transplant was done and Christopher had contracted a
graft versus host disease.
According to his father Dan, “We almost lost him three different
times.”
Unable to have any solid food for 75 days, and being limited to
fluids only through intravenous tubes, life was anything but
good for the young man who was a left handed high school
All-State baseball player in Arkansas.
Besides the chemo treatments that caused him to loose his locks
of curly hair, his body was drained of its energy by the
assortment of drugs that were being given to him.
At one point, Superman was placed in a drug-induced coma, and
also spent time on a ventilator.
“It’s been a long and trying eight months,” said Christopher’s
mom Cheryl.
The Ram Goes Home
Local wildlife artist Henry Aguilar agreed to do donate his
services and did the taxidermy work on the Christopher’s ram,
and as is normal with this world-renowned wildlife artist, did a
wonderful job on the mount.
When I got word that Christopher was going to be allowed to go
home for a weekend visit, and his mom said that it would be a
great inspiration for him to see the sheep, I decided it was
time to take the ram back home.
I contacted the ADBSS and Terry Petko, the State Ambassador for
HOAL and told them of my plan.
They immediately agreed to assist in ensuring this courageous
young sportsmen would have his ram in his arms on his first home
visit in over eight months.
Tickets weren’t cheap, and it would cost us extra to get the ram
there. The ADBSS Board of Directors, led by Jim Broschart, and
Petko, whose company in Phoenix, Oberg Industries made a
generous donation to the cause, said just make sure it happens.
So tickets were purchased and the airline called several times
to ensure that there would be no snafus when I arrived with the
crated ram last Friday morning at Sky Harbor Airport.
Despite all of our prior planning, the day didn’t start off
well. The sky cap took one look at the crate and commented,
“That ain’t gonna go.” I asked him to get a supervisor. He came
back out to measure the crate and left.
Then he came back with a supervisor in tow. She took a quick
look at the crate and told me that the crate wasn’t going. “It’s
too big,” she said. I told her I knew that airline policy was to
allow crates 99 inches and under on the plane and that this one
was just 89 inches. “It’s not going,” she said.
When I told her I had called my travel agent and the airlines
the previous day and both had said the crate would be allowed to
go, her cryptic response was, “Then you have a problem with
them.”
Since I had over $1,200 in non-changeable and non-refundable
tickets in my pocket, I was starting to get a little nervous.
When she again reiterated that the crate wasn’t going, I asked
her to call her supervisor. “I either need the crate to put on
the plane or I need my money back, I told her.
“I can’t do neither,” and then she told me that I needed to back
off.
“I suggest you call your supervisor,” was my response and as she
walked away I wasn’t sure whom I was going to see next.
Fortunately the next person who arrived was a supervisor who
listened to my predicament. I explained the situation to him and
suggested that if we didn’t get the sheep on the plane, that he
should get ready to answer questions for the TV news crew who
would be there to see why he and his airlines weren’t being very
cooperative when it came to helping fulfill the dream of a
seriously ill child.
“Hold on, I’ll be right back” and sure enough, in a few minutes
he was back and told his people, “I’m authorizing this to be
shipped, load it up.”
Despite being charged double what I had originally been quoted
to ship the ram, I now had hope that I might just make it back
there in time to surprise Superman with his ram.
As it turned out, the sheep and I both made it to Memphis,
though there were some more exciting moments when the crate
didn’t show up with the luggage as expected.
Scott Arender and one of his son’s, one of Christopher’s best
friends, met me at the Memphis airport. These great guys ensured
that the ram and I would make it the 70 miles to Jonesboro AR,
where Christopher lives.
In the end, a very surprised young man was presented with his
ram and as his eyes lit up I knew that despite all the problems
that had been encountered along the way, it was well worth it.
As I left late that evening for the motel, Superman still had
his ram at his side. His mom asked, “You gonna sleep with that
ram tonight Christopher?”
“I just might momma,” was his reply.
Christopher had a great weekend visit, and didn’t want to go
back to St. Jude’s on Sunday. But he did go back and is
improving a little more each day. Were all hoping that this
young man with the heart of a lion and the will to overcome all
odds will recover and some day soon we’ll all spend a day
together in a duck blind or chasing a longbeard through the
forest.
Then he’ll come home that evening to see his big ram on the
wall.
It goes without saying that Christopher and his family have been
through a lot. I had only met Christopher yet during my stay
they all treated me like I was family. They are truly good
people.
I got to believe the good Lord has special plans for our
Superman. Won’t you mention him and his family tonight in your
prayers?
