Brandon Twp.-A vintage, wooden Sher-wood hockey stick, once used by former Detroit Red Wing Brad Smith, leans near the back door of Ron Gapa’s home on the shore of Lake Louise.
Dressed in full camouflage and armed with a Hoyt Compound hunting bow, the slender 6-foot 3-inch Gapa slowly steps out the door, grasping the old stick just below the untapped blade, turns toward the lake and methodically walks to a small boat near shore.
‘I like the fact I use a boat to go out deer hunting’talk about a peaceful ride,? smiles Gapa, 49, glancing across the expanse of water toward the forested shoreline.
‘The trip across the lake at night when the lake is like glass and all the stars out, it’s the best time.?
Gapa’s euphoric trek to a tree stand and hours of bow hunting are the result of diligence and hard work, coupled with a multitude of local hunters who came to the aid of Gapa, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.
His disease, now considered secondary progressive multiple sclerosis by doctors, allows Gapa just enough mobility to walk a few hundred feet with the aid of his hockey stick. One of four internationally recognized forms of multiple sclerosis, his stage is identified as a steady progression of neurological damage often including relapses, minor remissions and plateaus.
‘I can’t run or climb stairs very well,? said Gapa. ‘I exercise my arms during the year to pull my bow back and refuse to use a crossbow for hunting, it’s just one more thing that denotes a handicap. I sometimes fall when I’m walking in the woods to my blind, it just takes all my strength sometimes to hunt for a few hours during the day.?
Fellow hunters, along with some employees from Brown’s Do-it Center and Sporting Goods in Goodrich, often look after Gapa, helping with baiting his blind, tracking deer and dragging a deer out of the woods.
Former Brown’s employee and fellow bow hunter Chris Church, now a resident of Tennessee, has moved Gapa’s tree stand a few times and even helped him install his dock in Lake Louise.
‘Up a tree stand during the fall is the greatest thing in the world for a bow hunter,? said Church. ‘If you can help those who hunt continue to do so, that’s a great thing. It would be devastating for anyone who has hunted and loves the outdoors like Ron has his whole life, to be forced to stop due to multiple sclerosis or any physical obstruction they may have. We all need just to help out when we can.?
‘During the year, Ron will give us the countdown until deer season opens,? said Church. ‘He’s got the spirit of the outdoors.?
Despite Gapa’s progressive multiple sclerosis, his grit and tenacity, coupled with an adventurous spirit, keeps him an active hunter.
‘I woke up one Sunday morning with a feeling of pins and thorns all over my body,? said Gapa. ‘It took doctors a few months to determine what was wrong. That was about 13 years ago. At one point I would get severe pains in my lower back that felt like someone was putting my finger in a light socket. It was like an explosion of pain with every heartbeat.?
‘It gets worse as the day goes on-the severe pain has slowed a little, but the last three or four years my leg strength has decreased. I’m not sure if the medications really make a difference, nothing can help with the pain.?
An avid fisherman, extreme water skier, and stand- out high school pitcher, Gapa, a Detroit native, attended Henry Ford Community College and was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1976. During his high school baseball career he pitched a perfect game, but his baseball future was cut short due to a bout with alcoholism and some bad luck.
Gapa worked in the circulation departments of the Detroit Free Press for 12 years and The Oakland Press for six years until his MS was too much and he was forced to retire.
‘I was just a bad drunk,? said Gapa. ‘I joined Alcoholics Anonymous, it really helped me put MS in the right perspective. I realized that when tomorrow gets here I’ll worry about it.?
‘My bow hunting is real head and heart medicine, I just got to do it. In my heart it means so much not to give up.?
‘The MS is just part of your life.?
Gapa receives daily support from his life-partner of more 18 years, Linda.
‘She’s been there for me and offers lots of support when times are tough.?