Writers Tricks of the Trade Volume 5, Issue 5 | Page 15

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Life Stories
RICK AND VIRGINIA HAWTHORNE CREATED VALLEY VIEW
VAULTERS, WHERE MIRACLES HAPPEN
Certain types of miracles really do happen. This is a true story and at least two
thousand kids and young adults are the proof.
What is a miracle?” There are so many definitions ranging from religious to
philosophical that it boggles the mind. The kind of miracles Rick and Virginia
Hawthorne created are acts of faith and determination—watching something
previously thought to be impossible become reality.
DENNIS PONCHER

When Rick Hawthorne was a child, everyone knew he didn’t fight. In fact, he would
go out of his way to avoid a physical confrontation. Then one fateful day something
drew him into a fight and to this day he can’t explain why that happened. When the
fight was over, Rick had broken his left arm in three places.
The story might have ended right there, but it turned out to be a lot worse than just
multiple fractures. Six months later, at age 11, Rick lost his arm and shoulder to
bone cancer. When x-rayed for breaks, a tumor the size of an apple in his shoulder
was revealed. He says it must have been divine intervention. That fight not only
saved his life, but also gave him the special “something” that makes his work with
the handicapped so successful.
The doctors told his parents the cancer would never have been discovered if his
arm had not been broken. He would have died before the year was out. Rick says
he has always felt that fight set his mission in life.
When it came time to pick kids for teams, he was now an active boy who happened
to only have one arm, and was usually chosen last or not at all. His “I Can” attitude
developed along with the determination to succeed—to accomplish beyond the
limits others set because of his handicap—and that led to the phrase he lives by:
“Success Comes in Cans.”
“I can’t” is simply not in his vocabulary. One of his a favorite sayings is “Can’t is a
only four letter word that means won’t. To me, every success, no matter how small,
is a can.”
In 1976, as a student at Cal Poly in Pomona, California, he watched in awe as riders
performed spectacular gymnastics on a moving horse in the sport of competitive
vaulting. The total synergy between the highly trained vaulting horses, the person
who controls the horse on a long lead (longeur) and the riders fascinated him.
The coach encouraged Rick to learn how to vault, but considering it was a twoarmed sport and he only had one arm, there were many obstacles. Through sheer
grit, Rick became the first handicapped vaulter in mainstream competition and a

WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE

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SEPT - OCTOBER 2015