A few months back, I became familiar with Austin Shuler’s courageous story, relayed to me by John Nachreiner of Sauk City.
Nachreiner, an avid outdoorsman, had applied for a Wisconsin bear hunting permit the past 10 years before he finally received one for the fall of 2008. But, due to unexpected circumstances, he wasn’t able to go on his hunt in northern Wisconsin. Nachreiner happened to tell Wally Banfi — of the Wilderness Fish and Game in Sauk City — about his dilemma and Banfi promptly put him in touch with Dale Reeve, a local hunter and outdoorsman who in turn put Nachreiner in touch with bear hunter Steve Salmon of Mazomanie. Salmon is a member of the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association along with a group of bear hunters and guides called the Stoney Lonesome Bear Hunters. Salmon had helped the United Special Sportsman Alliance () before at their annual picnic at the headquarters in Pittsville. Austin Shuler was a normal child who spent most of his free time in the outdoors fishing or hunting when not in school — prior to his tumor and cancer diagnosis. His family lived on a small farm in Indiana with an assortment of animals including horses, chickens and a calf that he was raising as a 4-H project. He also shot skeet, trap and sporting clays with his grandfather, Lee, in Friendship, Ind., and was proficient enough to hold several national titles. Austin’s plan was to attend a college that had a shooting sports team, hopefully scoring a scholarship along the way. His ultimate goal was to become a store manager for Cabela’s, something which would likely require him to have a college degree. But, most if not all of Austin’s dreams were put on hold after he was diagnosed with Disseminated Medulloblastoma (brain and spinal cancer) in November of 2005. He had a cancerous brain tumor which had spread down to his spine and he was given a 40 to 50 percent chance of survival. There is no known cure for his malady and Austin fights fatigue daily. He has been able to maintain accumulated knowledge prior to his operations, but adding new information to his memory bank is apparently difficult.
Marlene said Austin had 76 medical appointments in 2008 alone and that’s two years removed from his first operation.