Traumatic Brain Injury Doesn’t Keep Caleb Down

Some events change lives in the blink of an eye.  

Some people choose to withdraw from life after a traumatic injury. 

Some people choose to do what they can and pursue a fulfilling life. 

Caleb Keisling is someone who chose to do, achieve, and live life as fully as possible after he was stuck by a vehicle while riding his bike at the age of 12. His injuries include limited mobility and a traumatic brain injury.  

With encouragement and push from a motivated set of parents, Caleb grew up doing things that he loved, alongside the friends and family who remained by his side. Therapeutic riding, showing steers and horses at the fair, working on equipment, were all part of Caleb’s life growing up on the farm. He broke and trained a steer calf to follow him while tied to his wheelchair. The community noticed and bought that calf for $40,000 during the youth livestock auction at the Clinton County Fair. The buyer---St. Johns Community Foundation---donated the calf back to him so he could raise it to maturity and sell it again the following year. He restored a tractor with his father and chronicled it in a 4H notebook and took home a first-place blue ribbon for the effort. Again, people noticed. The number of entries in the overlooked category of equipment restoration at the fair grew because of Caleb. He was living proof of what could be accomplished, no matter the circumstances. 

Caleb is 30 years old now.  He had a job at a plant nursery until Covid sidetracked his employment. But he loved the work, learned, and is now establishing a small vegetable garden so he can sell produce from a roadside stand at the farm. Their well-traveled rural road is a great location to sell vegetables and fruit. Caleb’s local celebrity status can’t hurt sales either.  

Caleb chose to do---and he’s done much. He is proof that even though a disability changes, there is so much that can be accomplished with determination and some encouraging support.