Quadriplegic Goes Paddlefishing At Keystone Lake With Customized Device

A Michigan couple drove their quadriplegic son to Oklahoma so he could go fishing for spoonbill. The teenage boy’s dad built a handicap fishing device to make it possible.

Sunday, September 25th 2022, 9:51 pm



A Michigan couple drove their quadriplegic son to Oklahoma so he could go fishing for spoonbill.

The teenage boy’s dad built a handicap fishing device to make it possible.

Fourteen hours from home, the Timlick family didn't waste a minute getting out on the water at Keystone Lake, ready to go fishing at the crack of dawn.

"Don't get me wrong, it is a lot of work,” William Timlick said.

William takes his 14-year-old son, Waylon, fishing and hunting all the time.

In the six years since Waylon became a quadriplegic, his dad has perfected a handicapped fishing device.

With the family's ramp they found at a garage sale, Waylon made his way into the boat.

"Safety is number one,” William said.

Once inside, Waylon's chair is strapped down, and it's time to find the fish.

"This is what we drove 14 hours for,” William said.

With help from Nick Mefford with Keystone Lake Paddlefish Charters, Waylon reeled in the spoonbill, using only his mouth, to power the system his dad built.

"That's a 100-pound fish, Waylon! Your first ever paddlefish!” Mefford said after the first catch of the day.

A close look at William's shirt said it all: letters that stand for "Where There's a Will, There's a Way."

"I'm William. So I'm his Will, he's my Way,” William said.

But this way of life did not always seem attainable. William said a surgery gone wrong changed their lives forever.

Waylon was told he would never get on a boat again.

"When he first had this surgical issue, they said he'd never be on a boat. Plenty of people said he'd never go fishing again, he'd never go hunting. He'd never this and he'd never that and we're gonna prove that he will,” William said. "We're trying not to look to the past, we're trying to look to the future and things such as this make the future worth doing."

The family has a busy schedule up ahead, with plans to go to Texas next.

"Hopefully after that, wintertime, try to run some shark, maybe Florida, maybe Alabama,” William said.

And everywhere they go, together they prove: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way.

"Don't give up on your kids,” William said. “No matter what. If somebody tells you your kid can't do anything, no. Prove 'em wrong.”

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