One-handed marksman doesn’t let disability prevent him from reaching his target
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — He works deftly, loading five bullets into a magazine. He steadies the .308-calibre rifle on a pair of sand bags and peers delicately through the scope.
He fires, pulls back the bolt to reload, fires again. Three more times. His movements have a practised fluidity. It would be easy to fail to notice that the shooter is missing most of one hand.
Graeme Foote, who was born without most of his right hand, is a rising talent in precision-rifle shooting. The Surrey, British Columbia native took up the sport competitively only three years ago and other shooters say he has already overtaken many marksmen with far longer track records and double the digits.
“I don’t really think of things as a challenge,” said Foote, 39, who works as a systems engineer. “I keep going at it and going at it until I find a solution that works for me.”