Heroes came in all shapes and sizes

(Photo by Michael Fischer) Bill Decker suffered a 22-foot fall from a tree stand while taking his 14-year-old grandson Chase Wells on a birthday bow hunt. Bill credited the calm action of the Sioux Rapids eighth grader with saving his life. [Click to enlarge]

He's not faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

He can't swing from a web like a spider.

He can't turn invisible, burst into flame or stretch his body.

But make no doubt about it, Chase Wells is a hero.

How do we know?

Because his grandpa told him so.

Celebrating his 14th birthday on Dec. 1 with a late afternoon hunt, Wells was put to a test that many adults would struggle to pass.

Joined by his grandfather, Bill Decker, of Peterson, the Sioux Central eighth grade student, went in search of his first buck on some private property between Sutherland and Peterson. Both found themselves in separate tree stands ready to begin the patient, quiet wait that hunters are accustomed to.

"I've been a bow hunter since I was 13. I got my first deer when I was 14 and I have the mount in my living room," said grandpa Bill. "Chase said, 'I want one like that.'"

The two have been out together many times in the past, sharing the same tree stand. But it was always Grandpa Bill who got to take the shot, while Chase was left to watch and enjoy. Forced to use a crossbow now, Bill was determined to teach his grandson the enjoyment of bow hunting.

"He asked me to take him out. I said okay, 'Let's see if you can get a deer with a bow.' We set up our stands where I thought for sure he would get one," Bill explained.

The two stands were approximately 50 yards apart in a wooded area that prevented them from seeing each other. After settling into the high perch, Chase heard a heavy thud. Grandpa had got his deer.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

"I had dropped a glove, and I went to get down to go get it," Bill explained. "I slipped and fell 22-feet...I've been up and down that tree many times. You just never know. You can be as safe as you want, it just happened so quick. It was a branch that I had stepped on over and over again. It's about two inches. It just went."

He added, "It just happened at a time when I didn't have my harness on..."

Shortly after the thud, Chase heard his grandfather calling for help. Quickly climbing down from his stand, he raced to Bill's side.

"I laid there for a while. I wanted to see if I was really hurt. I tried to get up but I couldn't. I thought I had broken my back so I called for Chase," Bill explained. "He tried to help me up but he couldn't."

Without spending a great deal of time assessing the situation, Chase got on one of the walkie-talkies that his mother had just purchased for him as a birthday gift.

"We had gotten those just for a situation like this," Chase's mother, Chariti Johnson explained, "but with the hills and valleys, they didn't work."

"I didn't really want to leave him, but I knew I had to," Chase said. "I didn't really know where to go so I went to Jim's (the property owner). He wasn't home so I went to the neighbors. It's a pretty good distance."

After calling 911, Chase waited alongside the gravel road to direct emergency responders to his grandfather's location, about a quarter mile from the road. Within the hour, grandpa was on his way to the local medical center, from which he was transported by Life Flight to Avera McKennan in Sioux Falls.

Chase received a ride home, charged with providing the information to grandma Jackie.

According to Bill, Chase walked into the house, and said, "Grandma, sit down, you need to relax. Grandpa fell out of his tree, he's on his way to the hospital."

At first Jackie just thought he was teasing, and that Bill was hiding outside.

"I kept repeating it over and over," Chase explained. When grandma realized that her grandson was serious, they went to be with Bill at the hospital.

The fall left Bill with two punctured lungs, three cracked vertebrae, a pelvis cracked in three areas, a cracked hip, and a body that was sore all over. He remained at the Sioux Falls hospital for six days.

"If he wouldn't have been with me, if I had been by myself, I would have died. I'm certain of it," said Bill. "He's an incredible boy. He remained calm like you wouldn't believe."

For Chase's mother, Chariti, one special moment between her son and father remains with her. "Chase has always called his grandpa his hero. Grandpa said to Chase, 'You're my hero.'

"I said to him, 'It kind of stinks that it happened on your birthday.' Chase said, 'Are you kidding mom, I saved a life on my birthday.'"

For a while, Chase and grandpa will have to put bow hunting on the shelf. Bill is up and mobile, still hurting and slated for surgeries in the future. So the duo will have to settle for some TV and conversation.

"We're like brothers. We protect each other and we do stuff for each other," Chase said.

But Bill is determined to finish what he started. "He wants to learn this bow hunting sport so bad, and I'm going to teach him."

That gets a thumbs up from Chase. "It means a lot to me that he still wants to go with it."

While he may not have gotten his deer with a bow yet, Chase didn't give up on the hunt. "I went hunting with grandpas brothers. I got my first deer this Sunday (Dec. 19). That was during shotgun season."

And of course, the first person he called, grandpa Bill.