By Sven Larson
Fayetteville, Ark. — The first division 1 double amputee athlete in the NCAA’s history goes to the University of Arkansas. He is turning heads all over the place and making his story be known.
When you look at Hunter Woodhall’s twitter header you’ll see the words “they told me I would never walk, so I learned to run instead.” This message alone tells you what kind of person he is.
Woodhall was born with a congenital defect called fibular hemimelia. This defect causes the fibula bones in the legs to never fully develop. At only 11 months old his parents had to make the decision of amputating both of his legs under the knee.
Throughout his life Woodhall would be called an inspiration but because of his youth he didn’t like hearing that.
“I used to hate the word inspiration because I didn’t feel like it had a purpose,” said Woodhall. “My viewpoint on it was you don’t have a reason to be inspired by me, I haven’t done anything.”
While growing up and gaining more life experiences he realized he wants to show people that have the same defect as him that they can do it as well.
Hunter early in his life came to love sports. He wanted to play them just like any other kid.
He took a liking to track over other sports because two of his best friends were running as well and he felt comfortable.
“Personally I’m more proud of the fact that I am competing on the division one level,” Hunter said. “That has always been a dream for me.”
Hunter finished off the indoor season strong. He went to nationals in Birmingham, Alabama and came in fourth with his teammates in the four by four relay. Now he looks forward to the outdoor season and improving on every level.