When I Lost My Eye

This year will mark my 26th anniversary, but the specific date — May 5, 1986 — is not one I care to remember. It was the day I was shot in the turkey woods.

It felt and sounded like a firecracker exploding in my left ear. I was knocked down, but not unconscious, and my mind immediately tried to figure out what was wrong — what was happening.

At first, I thought my shotgun had blown apart. I had been turkey hunting and carrying the 12-gauge on a sling over my shoulder and thought one of the three-inch magnum shells in the magazine had detonated for some unexplained reason.

But I had been carrying the gun over my right shoulder, so why were my left arm...