 Todd Craighead started life with one hand behind his back – literally. Arthrogryposis, a condition resulting from restricted movement in the womb, had stiffened his joints and left him with poorly developed muscles and bones. Weighing a mite four pounds, his feet were deformed, hands cupped, right hip out of socket and right arm was twisted behind his head.
Today, he sits in his office at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation surrounded by photos of family and friends, honors and treasured mementos from favorite hunts. Driven by the stalwart resolve of his parents and his inner desire to persevere, Todd turned his love for the outdoors into a rewarding vocation and ultimately became the host of the wildlife department’s award-winning television show.
A Chance at Life
“Back in 1969, like most women, my mom did not undergo an ultrasound during her pregnancy, so it was truly a surprise that I came out different than other babies,” Todd explained. “Doctors didn’t expect me to make it through the night.”
The doctors’ prognosis the following day was equally grim. Parents Donna and Max were told their newborn would forever be a burden, needing constant care and possibly institutionalization. At her hospital bedside, Donna’s mother echoed their concerns.
“You’ll probably have Todd with you always. He’ll have to be kept at home,” Donna remembers her saying. “But I knew he’d be worse off I gave him up and I also knew that I couldn’t sugar-coat Todd, his life or his challenges.”
Surgeons performed a lengthy series of corrective surgeries on Todd as an infant and into his grade school years. They replaced his out-of-socket hip and inserted pins into his arm to hold it in proper position. He required a tendon and ligament transplant so that his muscles could pull his wrist up and to flatten out and straighten his feet.
“Those surgeries gave me the abilities I have today,” Todd recalled. “We considered other types of surgeries, but they were either experimental or had definite tradeoffs – I would gain one function but lose another.”
His mother recounted a particular touching moment when Todd became despondent over a procedure’s apparent failure. “He asked me, ‘Mom, what are we going to tell all the people at church who are praying for me?’ I told him, ‘If you and I can stand it, then they can, too.”
Despite his physical challenges, Todd’s parents realized that when faced with an issue, Todd figured out his own unique way to deal with it. Max was a hobbyist woodworker and often made special “tools” for Todd.
“I cut up a lot of clothes hangers,” Max laughed. “Todd would come up with the idea, and it was my job to make it.”
Together, they developed configurations of hooks and loops to help Todd fasten his clothing and even turned an old soccer shin guard into what Todd jokingly called his ‘sock-put’er-on’er’.
“My parents were miraculous, insightful people and realized early on that given time and space, I could figure out how to do things. That made all the difference in my life.”
A Boost of Confidence
 Todd did not grow up in a sporting family that hunted or fished. But on the weekends, he was allowed to choose an activity for the family to enjoy.
“I was always torn between shooting my B-B gun or fishing,” he said.
Soon, he discovered that hunting and fishing improved his self-image.
“When I started hunting and fishing, even though I held the gun or fishing pole differently than others, I realized that I could become more than an equal to my peers; I could be a contender. Hunting and fishing became that arena where the first time in my life I could do something as well as anybody else and sometimes even better.”
Honing his outdoor skills became not only a physical challenge, but more importantly, a mental game.
“If you don’t have your wits about you, then you’re not going to be prepared when that covey rises right under your feet,” Todd said. “Or, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re going to never see or hear a turkey in the woods because you’re just bumbling around.”
“I couldn’t letter in football, and I couldn’t play on the tennis team, but I could be one of the best at deer or turkey hunting. I grabbed tightly onto that idea. I loved it at an early age and probably love it even more today.”
A Triumphant Moment
Todd vividly recalls one occasion when, much to the chagrin of his parents, he went deer hunting by himself. He shot a doe on opening day, leaving him with an unfilled buck tag on the last day of the season. As the sun began to set, he shot a buck.
But the real challenge had just begun. Alone in a soft, muddy wheat field with his jeep a half-mile away, Todd considered his alternatives: Go home for help or find a way to load the deer himself.
Determined to return home triumphant, Todd devised a plan. “Darkness had fallen,” he said, “so I lassoed the deer’s head and secured the rope to me, and for the next hour I drug that deer a half-mile across the wheat field to my jeep. Then I had to figure out how to get a 130-pound deer into my vehicle.”
Drawing on the same ingenuity that he used to design his “tools”, he stacked his jeep’s toolbox and a plastic storage tub to create steps from the ground to the back of the jeep. After tying the deer’s legs together, he ran the rope through the jeep and around the steering wheel.
“I turned the steering wheel all the way to the right and turned the jeep on,” Todd said. “I then turned the steering wheel all the way to the left, wrapping the rope around the steering wheel column, which would gain me about 8 inches with the deer. With the deer hanging off the back end of the jeep, I went back and stuck the toolbox under it to hold it up. Then I returned to unwrap the rope around the steering wheel, repeat the process and gain another 8 inches.”
Todd’s eyes flashed jubilantly as he finished his tale. “I did that about five or six times until I got the deer up far enough to crawl underneath and lift it up on my back and into the jeep. I did it!”
Band of Brothers
Todd went to Oklahoma State University and majored in wildlife ecology with an emphasis in communications. Like many college freshmen, he pledged a fraternity – Farm House – and commenced another life-changing period.
Todd gives credit to his fraternity brothers for fostering his self-confidence.
“I really owe a lot to those upperclassmen, because they knew they weren’t doing me any favors by setting me aside and not letting me experience pledgeship to the fullest like the others. And they knew my pledge brothers would lose respect for me if I wasn’t required to do everything that they were required to do. It was all very liberating.”
Todd remains close to several of his pledge brothers, including fellow Oklahoman Jim Evans, who admitted his skepticism when he first met Todd.
“I thought, great, we’re going to have to carry his load too, but there was never a time that Todd wasn’t willing to jump in and help,” Jim said.
Today, as a father, Jim values his friendship with Todd even more. “My girls have grown up interacting with Todd and it’s helped them when they encounter other handicapped people. They don’t recognize them as disabled; they recognize them as people.”
After graduation, Todd worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Colorado as a natural resources interpreter. For more than three years, his duties included public speaking in the campgrounds and running a visitors center. Again, he credits his fraternity experience for his success in this new endeavor.
“I was always somewhat self-conscious and worried about first impressions because I looked so different,” Todd said. “My experience in the fraternity helped get me over that as well. As a pledge you’re required to learn about your house and university history and “regurgitate” that history on command before your peers. Once you become used to it, it almost becomes a comfort zone for you.”
In the Spotlight
 In 1995, Todd began working for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation as a publications specialist, responsible for desktop publishing the state’s hunting and fishing regulations.
“That’s when it all clicked,” Todd said. “I realized that everything else in my life had been leading me up to this point. I truly had found my niche.”
Todd also was given the opportunity to write scripts for the department’s television show “Outdoor Oklahoma”. Eventually, the TV show needed a new host and after a trial run, Todd took over.
Todd shakes his head as if he still can’t believe his good fortune.
“For a kid who was too insecure to even talk to the cashier at Wal-Mart, today, be in 250,000 homes a week - that’s quite a leap. I have to pinch and remind myself that I do have the best job in the world.”
Finding Love and a Family
In 2001, Todd’s life entered a new phase when he met his wife, Jill.
“When I moved back to Oklahoma and got the job at the Wildlife Department, I joined a church and became a Sunday school teacher in the singles department,” Todd said. “Jill came to our church with her week-old daughter, Emily, and joined my class. We’ve been happily married for six years now and I adopted Emily.”
Jill laughs when she remembers their courtship. “My granny used to tease me, saying that Todd married me for Emily.”
Todd shares his love for the outdoors with Emily, now nine.
“She’s a girly-girl, but I’ve taken her turkey hunting and she’s deer hunted with me. She has her own camo. She tried shooting a shotgun back before she turned eight, but it was a bit much for her, so she’s going to wait a while before she tries that again. I feel my role is to give my child a broad foundation so she can choose where and how she builds her life.”
Emily already has become an outdoor personality in her own right.
“I got to be on the cover of the Oklahoma fishing regulations, holding a bunch of worms,” she giggled. “A man recognized us in the Florida airport when we went to Disney World. That was neat!”
As Todd’s life evolves, so do new opportunities. A few years ago, he started a Christian Sportsmen’s Fellowship group at his church.
“The group essentially uses hunting and fishing as a platform to evangelize to men,” he said. “Because I’m outspoken about my faith and visible in the hunting and fishing community, I regularly speak at their events.”
Todd also serves as the state’s regional director and oversees the activities of eight new chapters across the state.
In addition to his time on camera, Todd also enjoys working behind the lens as a freelance videographer.
“I work with Drury Outdoors, providing footage for their video series. Being behind the camera may be the next thing for me.”
Words of Wisdom
When reflecting on his life, Todd offers advice to others with disabilities. “You may require extra help. You may need somebody to build you a ramp or accompany you on your hunting or fishing trips. But don’t forget that helping you is just as rewarding, just as much of a blessing to them as it is to you. They need those types of opportunities to be able to give back to the sport. If that’s sacrificing a weekend to take you out, then they’re going to be a much richer person inside for having done that. So don’t feel uncomfortable about asking for help. And don’t sell yourself short – where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
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