Bryce Trevett discovered his love for studying and photographing wildlife early on. His uncle was a herpetologist, so he studied reptiles and amphibians. He often took Trevett hiking to search for lizards and snakes. Trevett recalls one especially pivotal moment when his family was hiking near the Terranea area and his uncle found a rattlesnake among the bushes. He picked it up and allowed Trevett to examine it and touch it safely.

“I just thought it was the coolest thing in the world,” Trevett says. “That right there just hooked me on snakes so I started to go out and hike and try to find them myself.”

As early as high school, Trevett was doing research with a professor in southeast Asia, searching for new species. His love for wildlife led him into intensely active hobbies and areas of interest, such as free diving, hiking, hunting and jet skiing.

“I was doing it so early on that I got so infatuated with the whole thing, the adventure and exploring and finding the animals,” Trevett says. “I kind of grew up like the Crocodile Hunter, I guess you could say.”

However, these activities do not necessarily pay the bills, so after some time as an EMT, Trevett became a flight attendant so that he could travel around and pursue wildlife photography and research at the same time. A couple years ago, he decided to begin training to become a pilot so he could travel as an airline pilot.

By September, Trevett was only a couple hundred hours away from reaching the hours needed to become an airline pilot. But then, an accident changed the trajectory of his life.

Trevett was in a plane crash that left him severely injured and landed him in the hospital for more than a month as he underwent multiple surgeries. One of his major areas of injury was his legs, and initially, the doctors salvaged his right foot though it was severely damaged. However, they informed Trevett that he would likely deal with chronic pain in that foot for the remainder of his life, and he would not be able to bend it or walk on it. For an active person like Trevett, this was devastating news.

“My whole life has revolved around physical activity,” Trevett says. “Everything I do requires being in really good shape and being physically and mentally strong. Thinking of the possibility of not being able to do that stuff was really hard at first.”

But there was another option for Trevett to consider. If he received an amputation below the knee on that leg and used a prosthetic instead, he would be able to regain 95% of his physical life.

As Trevett considered the possibility of a prosthetic during his recovery, he dove into research and learned that the technology of prosthetics is extremely advanced. There are prosthetics designed for various activities, from running to rock climbing. He also spoke to many people — including pilots — who lead active lifestyles with prosthetics.

“What really helped me mentally was discovering all these people who had amputations and who were doing all these things that I loved to do,” Trevett says. “And they were doing them without skipping a beat.”

Trevett decided to go ahead with an amputation in December, and since then he has been continuing to heal and to learn to live with a prosthetic. While he has had to become accustomed to the lack of feeling between the foot and the ground and regain strength in his leg muscles that had atrophied during his time in recovery, he can now walk and drive. He is continually regaining aspects of his life.

“It’s definitely a learning curve, but I’ve talked to so many people who are active like I am who have had prosthetics for a while and they’re doing crazy stuff — they’re hiking jungles and they’re diving, basically all the stuff I used to do,” he says. “I know I can get back to it. It’s just going to take some time.”

Trevett has relied on a strong community of family and friends who have gathered around him to support him through the recovery process.

“I just kept doing things that I could do, like working out my upper body in my wheelchair every day. I had friends who would take me out in my wheelchair and we would go to places with nature that a wheelchair could go through and we’d look for animals as best we could,” Trevett says. “I just had a really good support network of friends and family thankfully.”

Throughout the long process of recovery, Trevett has learned to shift his perspective on his situation.

“When you think the worst has happened and your life has come to a much different state than you planned on, you can’t look at it like part of your life is over,” he says. “You can’t look at it as you’ve lost everything. You’ve just got to look at it as a new chapter. It’s just a new part of life that you’ve got to figure out and cross bridges as they come.”

As he continues to heal, Trevett is filled with hope. He plans to get back to all the activities he used to enjoy, including intense hiking, diving, hunting and wildlife photography. And he plans to get back in the cockpit, complete his training and become a pilot once he is recovered.

“The cool thing is now for me, everything that I do and accomplish is going to be 10 times more satisfying than it would have been before just because I have this new part of life to get used to,” Trevett says. “You just have to look at the bright side of things. You’ve got to try.”

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