Pocatello native Kyle Packer knows what it’s like to have people stare at him. His cerebral palsy forces his muscles to fight with one another, and even speaking requires concentrated effort.

    It wasn’t until Kyle, one of six children born to William and Alean Packer, was in junior high school that he noticed he was “different” and that difference drew stares.

    “My family treated me just like everyone else,” Kyle said.

    That wasn’t the case with other children at school — especially when Kyle got his first wheelchair.

    “I hated it,” he said.

    In fact for a while Kyle just put his books in that wheelchair and pushed them from class to class. But by the time he entered Highland High School, he needed to be in the chair to make it to classes. As a freshman, his sister, Deena, saw to it that her younger brother made it to various classes before the bell rang. Friends took over when he was a sophomore and junior and his younger brother, Duane, became his helper during his senior year.

    As he made his way down the hallways, stares from others were inevitable, according to Kyle.

    “Some people broke their necks trying to get their last look,” Kyle remembers.

    Those memories, plus his own experience of frightening a younger child who wouldn’t stop staring at him in a bowling alley, prompted Kyle to write a children’s book, “Stare If You Dare.” It is being published by Tate Publishing and Kyle hopes to have copies to distribute at the annual CW HOG Pig Out fundraiser on Sept. 14 in Lower Ross Park.

    The author said he owes his adult life to the outdoor program for handicapped people.

    “That program turned my life around,” Kyle said. “I was attending Idaho State University and flunking out.”

    He said he didn’t really care because after graduating from Highland in 1978 he figured he’d just “live at home with mom and dad.” CW HOG founder, Tom Whittaker, had a different future in mind for the young man with cerebral palsy. Whittaker lost his right foot in an automobile accident in 1979 and went on to become the first person with disabilities to summit Mount Everest.

    His primary goal in establishing CW HOG was to help people find strength and hope inside themselves even if they struggled physically. Kyle said Whittaker painted a target on his back.

    A friend with disabilities convinced Kyle to attend a Pig Out fundraiser and a signup sheet for a white-water trip was circulated. It came around three times and Kyle refused to put his signature on the list.

    “The third time it came with Tom and a rock,” Kyle said. “He wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

    Reluctantly, Kyle joined the float trip and he’s been doing it ever since.

    The 54-year-old’s exploits have included floats down the main Salmon River, the Middle Fork of the Salmon, the Snake River and even the mighty Colorado River. He has skied all over the West and even participated in rock climbs. Kyle’s confidence in himself grew as he overcame his fears.

    “Now I have a lot of stories to tell,” Kyle said.

    One of them involves the time he nearly drowned in the Colorado River. When the handicapped group arrived to put in for that trip in 1985, the flow in the river had been boosted from its normal 23,000 cubic feet per second to 45,000.

    “We should have turned around and came home,” Kyle said with a laugh.

    Instead the group forged a head — massive waves and all. On the seventh day of the float, the group leaders gave him a wetsuit and two lifejackets to wear as they prepared for Crystal Rapids, one the largest sections of white water on the river. When the raft flipped over, Kyle was pinned underneath. He stayed there for a terrifying ride through two more sets of rapids before being rescued.

    “They couldn’t bring a rescue helicopter in and I’m glad,” Kyle recalled. “It made me get back in the raft and finish the trip. By the end I was on the oars rowing the boat.”

    Kyle’s exploits caught the attention of a documentary film crew and in 2004 it completed the film, “An Uphill Climb,” about Kyle’s efforts to conquer obstacles. The film went on to win six Mid-American Emmy awards and has been aired on public television.

    A big poster for the film hangs in his mother’s living room on Wingate Drive in Pocatello. It is autographed by the crew members who made it. Kyle smiled with pride at the poster as he talked about his new book. He’s visiting his mother for a few weeks and will attend the CW HOG fundraiser next month.

    “When I got the idea for the book, I couldn’t sleep,” Kyle said. “Nothing had hit me like this.”

    The end result is a simple illustrated children’s book with a big lesson about acceptance and life through the eyes of someone with a disability. The main character is named Tommy, who walks with the aid of braces on his arms and legs. One part of the story makes this simple statement: “We are all different in one way or another.”

    Kyle said he realizes the big difference in his life came because of CW HOG. He met is wife, Sheryl, of nearly 25 years through the organization when she served as a summer intern while obtaining her degree in outdoor recreation. They have three children, Joshua, 21, Quinton, 16; and Kayla, 12. Joshua is attending ISU and is a member of its rugby team. And Kyle graduated from ISU instead of dropping out more than 30 years ago.

    And Kyle said not all stares are bad.

    “If my wife hadn’t caught me staring, I probably wouldn’t be married today,” he said.

Editor's note:

“Inspirational Idaho” is the Journal’s series about what’s right with our communities. Every Sunday we will feature an inspiring local person or group, focusing on how they’ve made a positive difference in the lives of others. If you have someone or a specific group you would like to see featured, contact Journal Assignment Editor Tammy Scardino at (208) 239-3134 or tscardino@journalnet.com.