MILES CITY — Sports are the ultimate metaphor for life — the wins and losses, the adversity and triumph.
All too often they intersect. And over the course of the past three years, Miles City basketball player Kyler Venable has had his courage and resolve pushed to the limit.
During the summer following his eighth-grade year, Venable was involved in an ATV accident that ultimately resulted in the amputation of his right leg below the knee. And then on Sept. 1 of last year, Venable's mom Sarina passed away at the age of 48 following two bouts with cancer.
As Venable emerges from the tragedy and turmoil that has engulfed him these past few years, he knows it's been an uphill climb.
"It was pretty tough," Venable, who is 17 and now a junior at Miles City, offered as perhaps the understatement of the year. "It was pretty hard."
Yet without an ounce of cynicism or bitterness, he refuses to let it define him. It's always darkest before the dawn.
On July 9, 2022, while with friends at Fort Peck Lake in northeast Montana, a six-seat side-by-side off-road vehicle in which Venable was a passenger tipped and rolled. The four-wheeler landed on Venable, breaking his right femur above the knee and severely lacerating the skin and muscles below it.
When the vehicle was lifted off of him, Venable could see the aftermath of the injury. He knew it was serious.
"I was in a lot of shock," he recounted. "I was just thinking, 'Oh gosh. What happened? What am I going to do?' My friends went to get some help and someone put a tourniquet on my leg."
Venable was then driven 90-some miles south to Jordan, but there was little anyone could do for him there. Venable eventually made it to Miles City where he received blood transfusions and a helicopter flight to Billings.
He had stints at both Billings hospitals and was there for about a month, but his leg could not be saved. It had to be removed below the knee. Venable finally underwent treatment in Denver.
In the end, Venable said, the amputation was necessitated by infection and dying skin. Venable said he endured more than 20 surgeries.
The physical therapy has also been daunting as he's adapted to his prosthetic. But Venable returned to the court this year, rejoining his teammates on junior varsity while also seeing some time with the varsity squad.
"Running and jumping, I'm pretty good at that," Venable said. "Defense is probably one of the hardest things, but in practice my coach works me harder and harder every day, and so I've kind of been getting used to it a little bit more."
When you see Venable laughing and joking in warmups prior to a game, or running up and down the floor during it, you can tell a part of him has returned.
"I missed it so much," he said. "Just playing with all my buddies again, it means the world. And basketball is one of my favorite sports, so it's great to be back and playing again."
But he is also dealing with the loss of his mother, who was a star player at Whitewater, became a Miles Community College hall of famer and later played in the Frontier Conference at Rocky Mountain College.
In later years, Sarina Venable (née Green) was a respected high school basketball official out of the Miles City pool.
Her death is a profound loss for Kyler and his family. But he has dedicated his comeback to his mom.
"She was my hero. She's my role model," Kyler said with sadness in his voice. "I looked up to her; she taught me everything I knew. I just play for her. Everything I do, I do it for her."
Venable's triumph over turmoil has been an inspiration to many others. Especially among his family.
Older brother Jayden Venable, not long removed from his own standout sports career in Miles City, can be counted among those who feel renewed by the optimism and belief Kyler has adopted as he's faced these challenges.
"Being the older brother and looking out for my brothers my whole life, and then seeing him go through that, it was tough on me," Jaden Venable said. "But the coolest thing was Kyler's attitude through it all. I couldn't have been more proud of him than I was.
"Seeing him go from being in the hospital to walking and running and playing sports, he's my hero now. I'm so proud of him."
