John shot his first arrow as a Boy Scout in Troop 40 of Rochester, IL. He also received the rank of Eagle Scout in 1993 from that same troop. However, he didn’t continue to shoot archery until later in life.
In November of 2017, John was admitted to the hospital as a hypertensive emergency. He was moved from the emergency room to the cardiac ICU. John was only in the cardiac ICU for a short while as the doctor’s determined he had a neurological issue and was moved to the neurological ICU. There he was diagnosed with Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES). The doctors could not get his vitals under control and did not believe he would make it much longer than 72 hours.
The next day John started having issues with his vision. While watching TV people started looking pixelated. An ophthalmologist looked and said John would likely lose his vision for a brief period because of damage to his optic nerves. The next day John was blind in his left eye and the following day he was blind in both eyes. At that time, he could see nothing, not even light, but was reassured he would get 70 to 80% of his vision back.
John never gained near what he was told but has managed to adapt to his impairment. He has no vision in his left eye and less than 5 degrees field of vision in his right eye. In addition to tunnel vision, he is color blind and it is dark at all times. To put it into perspective, it is like looking through a straw with extremely dark glasses on.
After losing his sight John was determined to live a normal life and would not take no for an answer. Through a close family friend, he was referred to the Educational Center for the Visually Impaired (ECVI) in Springfield, IL. That is where he learned to use a white cane, screen reader, his iPhone/iPad, and numerous other daily life skills to remain independent. John is still active with ECVI and is currently on their board of directors.
In the fall of 2020, ECVI received a recreation grant from the Community Foundation to help keep its students active. One of the students at the center recommended archery as an activity. Peggy Dyson, Executive Director of ECVI, researched ranges in the Springfield area and found Rigney’s School of Archery (RSA). In September 2020, ECVI and RSA embarked on a 5-week class to teach blind people how to shoot archery!
Kim Rigney (Coach Kim) put on a very successful class and John was hooked. He signed up for additional classes and started shooting in pin shoots. Through his work with Coach Kim, he started using a tactile sight and a foot placement device. These adaptive tools helped him stay in the same place and sight the target. By learning to use the adaptive tools along with many hours on the range and great coaching John was able to start competing in local tournaments.
In August of 2021, John shot at the Illinois Target Archery Association’s 2021 Outdoor State Championship where he placed 1st in his division and set the Illinois State record for Visually Impaired archers. Later that month he shot at the Inaugural Chicago Para-Archery Championship hosted by North Side Archery Club. He placed 1st in his division and had the highest overall score for the event.
John is a member of USA Archery and is classified as a Visually Impaired B2 archer.