PEORIA, Ariz — One Arizona hunter has set his sights on helping people understand that sometimes the limitations they put on themselves are the only thing holding them back from incredible adventure.
“Favorite part about outdoors is getting out there and pushing my limits,” said Ryan Kinnear as he aimed his rifle.
Ryan Kinnear is willing to take aim at any limitation from his motorized wheelchair.
“I have Spinal Muscle Atrophy Type 2. It’s a progressive disease. It’s a terminal disease,” said Kinnear.
Spinal Muscle Atrophy Type 2 is a rare hereditary genetic condition in which muscles throughout the body are weakened because nerve cells in the spinal cord and brainstem do not work properly, according to Boston’s Children's Hospital.
When Kinnear was diagnosed as an infant, doctors told his parents he probably wouldn’t live past 5 years of age.
That was the first obstacle the 46-year-old overcame.
“I’m an old bugger,” Kinnear explained.
He’s spent most of those years playing outdoors.
“I’ve been hunting and fishing my whole life,” Kinnear said.
Over the years the disease has limited Kinnear’s mobility and limited the use of his arms – so he’s retrofitted his wheelchair to make it possible to do what he loves – hunting.
“Took a standard factory rifle and I broke it all down and I designed a chassis to mount on my wheelchair,” Kinnear said.
The rifle is harnessed against his shoulders with the scope at eye level. He moves his chair around, up and down, like a gun turret to get his aim. There’s a microswitch located by Kinnear's left thumb he uses to trigger the rifle to fire a shot.
Ryan has hunted prey of all sizes from small birds to elk and no terrain is too tough.
“So, we go basically wherever a truck can go,” said Ryan.
None of these hunting and fishing trips are possible without the help of his father Bruce Kinnear. The two men work together to implement Ryan’s design ideas.
“I want him to be able to do as much as he can and I want him to have every little bit of it. Every bit of the hunting experience,” said Bruce Kinnear.
Ryan’s life has always been about troubleshooting and his advice for parents with disabled kids – get out of the way.
“When your child has a disability, it’s going to be working with problems and oftentimes parents will alleviate those problems as many times as they can for their children. This is a mistake. They need to allow the child to find its own way and to fail and succeed,” said Ryan.
For everyone else – take a shot.
“The main problem I see that all people have, not just disabled people is they limit themselves. They see all the things they can’t do. They just need to go out there and try,” Kinnear said.
If you'd like to know more about Kinnear, you can visit his Facebook page here.
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