A Laramie man who has faced medical hardships since a bone cancer diagnosis in 2002 wasn’t about to let this year’s antelope season pass him by.
Randy Svalina recently got a new prosthetic right leg, and was still hobbling around on crutches, when he and his wife, Stacy, went hunting on Sept. 28, and she shot an antelope buck.
Not to be outdone, he went out by himself the next day. He had to crawl much of the way, and his wife later spent considerable time picking prairie cactus spikes out of his legs.
But he still got his buck.
During a conversation with Cowboy State Daily on Monday, his sense of humor was shining through.
“Honestly, this hunt helped me get back on his feet. Pun intended.” he said.
Humor and deep faith have helped his family, which also includes daughters Kaycie and Ashley, through many challenges.
Whether it was his cancer diagnosis and years of medical complications, or losing their home to fire in 2005, the family cracking jokes with, or at, each other has made things more bearable.
“When you get me and my wife and our daughters together, it’s like a bad sitcom. It never quits,” he said.
Growing Up Rugged
Svalina was raised in the remote vastness of northern Albany County.
He credits his upbringing for the grit that got him through trials later in life.
“It’s that independence I had growing up, next to the mountains an hour from town. You just had to figure things out,” he said.
He graduated from Wheatland High School in 1984 and started “cowboying” and working as a hunting guide across southeast Wyoming.
“Then I got bitten by the race car bug” and decided to attend WyoTech automotive mechanic school in Laramie, graduating in 1989.
‘My Wife Is Still Mad About It’
He eventually returned to WyoTech to work as an instructor, specializing in the hot rod program. He loves it and said it doesn’t feel like work.
“It’s not even a grown-up job or anything,” he said.
Throughout his life, Svalina has loved hunting. And it was on an elk hunt in 2002 that he and his wife noticed something wasn’t right.
“In 2002, I was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. It wound up being not terminal, and my wife is still mad about it,” he said, jokingly, with a laugh.
Though the cancer didn’t kill him, it set him on a long journey of chemotherapy and surgeries.
Surgeons installed an “internal prosthetic right leg,” he said.
“Basically, they replaced the bone with titanium,” he said.
Doctors also told him he’d probably never hunt again or again do numerous other activities he loved.
“They gave me a big list of ‘nevers’. But I actually killed an elk that fall, right after the chemo. It nearly killed me, but I did it, Svalina said.
“To come back to that same spot where I started to have trouble in 2002 and kill an elk, it felt like a victory lap,” he added.
A New Leg, A New Chapter
Once he was over the worst of his medical trials, things smoothed out somewhat. Although the ordeal had taken its toll, including complications that caused severe hearing loss.
The family lost their home and nearly all of their possessions to a fire in 2005, but they picked back up and kept going.
Svalina’s internal prosthetics were replaced from time to time, with the fifth replacement going in last May.
Then things started to go sideways. He developed a series of vicious infections, which nearly killed him.
After numerous surgeries and other treatments, doctors decided to amputate his right leg, from about mid-thigh down.
“I got a weight-reduction surgery,” he said, again displaying his wry humor.
‘My Crutches Kept Clanging’
Getting a new, external prosthetic on his right leg meant learning to walk all over again, and he had to rely heavily on crutches.
Even so, he was determined to make the most out of this hunting season.
He and Stacy went out on a Saturday to fill her antelope tag.
It didn’t work out.
“My crutches kept clanging together and making all kinds of noise” which scared the antelope away,” he said.
They went out after church the next morning, and he ditched the crutches.
“I had to crawl a good part of the way,” he said, but Stacy shot her buck.
‘A Wrestling Match With Knives’
When he decided to go out alone after getting off work early the next day, Stacy agreed, but only on certain conditions.
He had to stick to a particular pasture and park his white pickup in a highly-visible spot.
When the opportunity came for a shot, he took it.
And missed.
“I threw an airball on that first shot,” he said.
The antelope tore off running, but then circled back around, giving him a rare second opportunity.
“It’s like God said, ‘OK, we’ll let the idiot have a one more chance,” Svalina said.
That time, his shot was true.
Then it was time to field dress the antelope.
With him still struggling to get used to his new leg, Svalina described that as “a wrestling match with knives.”
“And then the rain was on its way, with lightning. Because, why not?” he added.
After he finally got the antelope loaded into the back of his pickup, the vehicle didn’t want to start at first.
“The pickup barely started. And once it started, I didn’t turn it off until I got home,” he said.
No Testimony Without Tests
As for what’s gotten him through so many challenges, Svalina credits his wife, who he said has been unflinchingly at his side through their 37-year marriage.
His daughters and a job that he loves have also been a huge part of his success, he said.
He said his deep, abiding faith has been the cornerstone of it all.
He helps run a Christian ministry at WyoTech. He noted that what some might consider to be misfortunes can be viewed as blessings through the lens of faith.
“My faith has been tested. The root word of testimony is test. If you don’t have the tests, you don’t have the testimony. And God has given our family a few,” he said.
In that regard, he sees the ordeal that started in 2002 as “a blessing” which has helped him focus on courage, tenacity and trying to live in service of others.
Leg-Turned-Rifle Rest?
Svalina is looking forward to walking again without the aid of crutches, and said he plans to keep on hunting.
“I’ve got an elk tag in my pocket right now,” he said.
Having a new prosthetic leg has opened up new possibilities for creativity, he added.
He said that he and his doctor initially joked about using his leg for a rifle rest, by bending the knee upward and turning the foot to support a gunstock.
But the more they’ve talked about it, the more they think it might be an actual possibility, with the right design.
Svalina said he prefers to hunt alone, “but if I ever do take a shot using that leg as a rifle rest, I want somebody there to film it.”
He hopes that his experiences help to inspire others to keep going, no matter what obstacles they might have to overcome.
And while some might see his challenges as incredible, Svalina said that can be a matter of perspective. He noted that he knows people going through things that he’s not certain that he could endure.
Instead of judging each other or trying to compare their own challenges to what others are going through, people should realize that everybody is going through something and be there to support one another, he said.
“I think I’m one of the luckiest men in the world,” he said.
“And that’s coming from a deaf guy with one leg,” he added, laughing again.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
