CSI in the News - CSI Today

At home on the sea, despite disabilities
Posted by eadanna July 02, 2009 12:17PM
Photo/Great Kills Bail & TackleGreat Kills resident John Karl, a
paraplegic angler who deploys in a kayak, recently landed a pair of five-pounders -- a codfish and a
sea bass.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- GREAT KILLS -- Kayaking a half-mile from shore for a man-versusnature
battle with some denizens of the deep is a daunting proposition for most.
In addition to the rowing and the angling, there's the added danger of a sudden storm.
Great Kills resident John Karl is undaunted. Nearly every other day, he paddles out from the South
Shore coastline to test his mettle. What makes his derring-do so impressive is that the 45-year-old
does it all without the use of his legs.
"Being a paraplegic, going out on the kayak really allows me an opportunity to do more than I
normally would," said Karl, who lost the use of his lower extremities at age 11 after a rooftop fall.
"I've been fishing these waters ever since I was a kid. My father used to take me out all the time. I
love it."
A geology tutor at the College of Staten Island in Willowbrook, ironically, he wasn't too keen being
stuck on shore.
"I would fish with my friends on the beach, and the tide would come in," he said. "I'd have to move
my wheels and try to back away instead of just enjoying the fishing."
About 14 years ago, Karl, who had already mastered a hand-controlled seven-speed bike, discovered
that kayaking would allow him the fishing flexibility he was seeking.
"We go out all the time now," said Karl, who often convinces some of his friends, like Great Kills
natives Joe Summer and Rob Wieser, to tag along. "I use a two-and-a-half pound anchor to steady
myself. Then I fish for striped bass or I can go crabbing. I use it for everything."
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