Disabled sportsmen's best friend

Harry Miller

Harry Miller laments the years he spent "feeling sorry for myself" after a debilitating accident 32 years ago.

The Westmoreland County man's life changed when a tree branch struck him in the back, crushing three vertebrae. He spent years in depression. Then he decided to do something to make the world a better place for others facing the same obstacles.

Miller joined three cronies in forming the Pennsylvania Sportsmen for the Disabled. The organization's goal is to increase access to hunting and fishing for people in wheelchairs or with other physical disabilities.

Under Miller's leadership, the organization has seen to it that state parks, county parks and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers properties take into account the arrangements that must sometimes be made for the disabled to access the woods and the water.

Miller was recently presented the Pa. Fish and Boat Commission "Paul J. Mahon Access for All Award," honoring a state resident who improves fishing and boating access for the disabled.

He has had both legs amputated and was recently hospitalized for treatment of a serious illness, but Miller said he is pressing forward.

"I won't stop until we have so much access that there's no need for a group like Pennsylvania Sportsmen for the Disabled," he said. "When that happens, we'll have parity. The disabled will have equal access to hunting and fishing as the able-bodied."