Hank Hunt
ADVOCATE WHO LED THE SUCCESSFUL FIGHT FOR THE PASSAGE OF KARI'S LAW
EXCERPT
HANK HUNT HAD a picture-perfect life. He grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas; he was a “typical southern boy who got dirty and popped wheelies on bicycles and pulled girls’ ponytails.” He moved to Texas in 1972 and married his high school sweetheart, and they had two little girls. Hank joined the armed forces as a military police officer and says he believes he did a lot of good in that job. He didn’t intend to start a movement or change the world in a big way, but he says he’s “always been the kind of person that if I see somebody that needs some help, I do what I can to help them.”
“My advice to getting through those low times is to surround yourself with the people who can help you. If someone reaches out to help you, take it. There's a reason they're doing it."
-Hank on surrounding yourself with people who support you and keep you going.
And then on December 1, 2013, tragedy struck. Hank’s wife was in Fort Worth at a Christmas bazaar, and he was home when she called around lunchtime. She told Hank that she couldn’t reach their daughter, Kari, which didn’t seem that out of the ordinary. But a few minutes later when he tried several times and got no answer, he felt the first twinge of concern, since his daughter almost always answered his calls. Then his wife told him that Kari’s husband had just posted, “Oh my God, I snapped,” on social media. Now Hank was really worried. He called the police department and the hospital to see if Kari had been admitted or whether they had been called to a domestic disturbance. He knew something was wrong when the person at the police department said, “Can I have a detective call you back?”