Burn Victim Becomes Eagle Scout
A co-worker with family connections to scouting first told us about Clayton Hildredth. An 18-year-old, badly burned as a toddler. He doesn’t have any toes or fingers, lips or a nose, only one eye and only one ear. He’s conquered every challenge in his path and achieved an honor that less than 5-percent of all boy scouts attain. Still, talk to Clayton on the phone and he sounds like any other teenaged boy.
However, the first time you look at Clayton’s smiling face, it’s easy to be overcome with emotion. Pity. Anger. Sadness. Why should a little boy have to go through life dealing with that??
I shared some of these thougths with my husband the night before my interview with Clayton. He said to me, “he doesn’t want your pity.”
He couldn’t have been more right. And today, Clayton Hildredth has nothing but my respect and admiration.
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In the first few minutes of talking to Clayton, it’s clear this kid is something special. We heard about him the week before he was to be honored as an Eagle Scout. Here’s how our first conversation over the phone went:
Voice: “Hello?”
Me: “Hi! Clayton?”
Voice: “Helloooo?”
Me: “Clayton? Clayton!?! Can you hear me?”
Voice: “Are you there?”
Me: (quickly darting my head from side to side, trying to get better reception from my cell, as I basically shouted into the phone) “Clayton? Can you hear me now?!?”
(at this point, Rob and several other coworkers were looking at me with raised eyebrows)
Voice: “Guess you should just leave a message!!” BEEP!
Clayton trick’s worked; the oldest voice mail joke in the book. When Clayton and I talked later that night, the first thing I told him was that I had fallen for the “answering hoax” voice mail.
“Did you like it??” Clayton asked. “My grandma hates it! She said she’s deleting me from her phone!”
Clayton’s character shines from the first moments he meets someone. He stuns you with the spirit in his voice; not an ounce of bitterness. He doesn’t emit any of the anger, the pity, the frustration others may feel when seeing his injuries. And if you get him on the topic of scouts, you better have some time to talk and exhange stories.
Thankfully, KETV chief photojournalist Scott Buer was the other half of our team sharing Clayton’s story. Scott is a former “Scout Dad” and troop leader for years. They exchanged stories about Camp Cedars, about his service project, about his Scout name and why being an Eagle Scout is such a special, life-lasting accomplishment.
Clayton answered every question he was asked about what happened to him, no matter how personal or difficult to talk about. His maturity seemed well beyond his 18 years. But in the moments sitting and watching him talk about scouts with a fellow scout-family member, another aspect of who Clayton is shines through on a completely different level.
At one point, Scott asked him, “how did you handle your day of silence?”
Clayton burst out in exclamations of “Oh! Oh! It was horrible!!”
“All I had to do was give you a dirty look,” replied his Scoutmaster, Kristine Price.
“SHHH!” mimicked Clayton. “That look is horrible. It can kill.”
A few minutes later during a really intense part of our interview, Clayton described how children run away from him because of his injuries. Scott asked him, “is that why you want to be a social worker?”
“To scare kids?” Clayton replied. The whole room burst out laughing.
This kid has such a quick wit; an incredible sense of humor and timing. The more you talk to him, the more you realize he is JUST LIKE ANY OTHER HEARTLAND TEENAGER. An 18-year-old guy who loves video games and “blowing stuff up”, as he puts it. A proud uncle; “she loves me”, he says, describing his young niece, Madison. He talks like any other teenager; “dude”, and “like” pop up throughout conversation.
But this “dude” has faced more than most could even imagine.
Scott said it best: “We talk to a lot of complainers. I’m not hearing any whining at this table.”
True to form, Clayton replied, “I can whine if you want me to.” More laughs, of course.
Would anyone blame Clayton for whining? Probably not. But just like every other challenge he’s taken on, he refuses to let self pity win.
“I just have a very strong belief that if I think I can do it, I can do it.”
***
BOY SCOUT OATH
On my honor, I will do my best,
to do my duty, to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
One of the last things Clayton told us that day, was that he knows he has a purpose. He just hasn’t found it yet, he said.
Whether he’s aware of it or not, Clayton is changing the way people think about people who are different; from his fellow scouts who now treat him as a buddy regardless of how he looks, to a reporter and photographer who left Clarinda, Iowa that afternoon not feeling pity; but inspiration, awe, and a will to never complain again.
And he’s not stopping. Clayton wants to be a social worker and help other kids, “more than you think” he says, who are burned and hurt. He volunteers with the Shriners, and spent a recent Saturday in Omaha helping out at the Shrine Circus.
His scoutmaster named him “Willfull Spirit” during one of their last trips to camp.
To Clayton “Willful Spirit” Hildredth, congratulations on your incredible achievement, and good luck on what will no doubt be your amazing journey to come.
