HUSHPUK helps save Kansas archer’s shooting career
HUSHPUK helps save Kansas archer’s shooting career
By Tyler Frantz
It’s amazing the world of difference a simple product can make in one person’s life.
Devastating injury
When Christina Jones fell in 2006, shattering the radial head of her left arm, she had no idea how long her road to recovery would last. Trauma surgeons in Arizona did their best to put her back together, but they failed to realize the extent of the damage in her forearm and wrist.
Little did they all know, it would require twelve additional surgeries to get Jones, a 35-year-old Health Compliance Auditor from Wichita, Kansas, back on track. Obviously, her road to recovery was a little steeper, windier and rockier than she had initially hoped.
Newly Discovered Passion
Fast-forward to July 11, 2013, when Jones took a bet from her daughter, Alex, which changed her life forever.
“My daughter had been diagnosed with high functioning autism, and she used archery to relax her and provide a safe environment to help with her social skills,” Jones explained. “On this night during a JOAD class, she dared me to try shooting. I couldn’t back down, so I picked up a bow and haven’t put it down since.” Jones instantly fell in love with archery, which she compares to the level of passion her husband Grant, a teacher and collegiate summer wood-bat league coach, shares for baseball.
“Grant has baseball, and I have archery,” said Jones, a mother of three who speaks highly of her amazing family- a family she says has fun together, laughs together and celebrates life with patriotic and faith-based values.
Jones began shooting compound bow in open/freestyle matches with a Mission Menace, but has since switched to a Hoyt Podium X Elite GTX with a 25-inch draw at 36-pounds- her dream competition bow.
Tough times
“After that first shot, I knew I had a challenge on my hands,” Jones said. “I wanted to learn and absorb everything I could about archery, but realistically I knew that the pain of shooting would eventually cripple me.”
“I was willing to shoot through that pain, but as it got worse, I was wearing down,” Jones confessed. “The pain with every shot was so intense that I was taking pain medicine to get through practices. It was not what I wanted. I wanted to shoot my bow and be good at it.”
“In February of 2014, my orthopedic surgeon found one last option- a total DRUJ (Distal Radioulnar Joint) replacement arthroplasty. It is a combination of rods, plates, screws and a ball-in-socket.”
“This was what he called a terminal surgery because of the amount of bone I would lose. So once I had the surgery, there was no going back. After much thought, I decided to do the surgery. It was by far the hardest decision I have ever made and the most difficult recovery I have ever experienced,” Jones said.
Enter HUSHPUK
“After the surgery, with every shot, the vibration of the bow would settle in my wrist,” Jones explained. “It honestly felt like I had a tuning fork in my wrist.”
“One day, I was in the shop shooting with my coach, Ray Manfull, and I was in tears because I had just bought this beautiful bow and every time an arrow left the rest, I had intense pain. I literally was minutes from walking away from my passion.”
Two other archers, Ray and Dahlia Crook, were shooting nearby and overheard Jones’s upsetting dilemma. Wanting to help in any way they could, they quickly told her about a simple product that might be of some assistance. “Try this,” they said.
“Dahlia pulled her HUSHPUKs off of her bow and placed them on mine,” Jones explained. “I shot my first shot virtually pain-free. In disbelief, I tried another and another. I was so excited that I cried and hugged Dahlia and Ray and then told everyone around me what a difference they made!” “HUSHPUK, in its simplest form, has given me my archery passion back,” Jones said. “I am able to shoot virtually pain-free. I love the small compact design. They stay where they are put, yet they are easily adjustable. I love that this is a product that does what it is supposed to do and reduces the vibration.”
Back in action
Jones says she’s still getting to know the sport of archery and has much to learn before reaching the championship level. However, in March of 2015, she won the KSAA Indoor Women’s Bowhunter Freestyle Tournament, and she is looking forward to the upcoming indoor season.
The difference maker between Jones succumbing to the pain of injury and continuing to pursue the sport she loves was HUSHPUK, and she is forever grateful.
“For such a small item, it has had a huge impact on me,” Jones said.
To learn more about the innovative, repositionable vibration-dampening archery product that enabled Christina Jones to continue her archery career, as well as the many additional benefits of adding HUSHPUK to one’s bow setup, please visit www.hushpuk.com.
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