Years after Idaho plane crash rendered him blind, Tristan Smith sees light where there is none

AFTON, Wyo. (SVI News) — After becoming 100% blind in a small-plane crash in 2018, Tristan Smith has transformed tragedy into purpose, founding the nonprofit Blind Leading the Blind LLC and opening the outdoors to those with vision loss.

Through the process, Smith has learned that healing does not happen alone — and that purpose can rise from even the darkest moments.

The crash: The world went dark in an instant

On that clear summer morning, Smith says he was excited to be heading out for a workday in the sky, checking survey markers, or “targets,” as he called them.

“Of course, I was excited,” Smith shared. “I enjoy flying and had done it a few times before, always with good experiences.”

Smith boarded the Cessna 172 aircraft in Afton along with his co-worker, Evan Hathaway. Their pilot, John Craig, had instructions to fly the men west into the mountains of Caribou County, Idaho.

After take-off, everything was going smoothly, Smith said. Being an avid outdoorsman and hunter, he enjoyed looking over the land and trying to spot any deer, elk or other wildlife.

Smith said he marked the grid-patterned targets one by one on the map resting in his lap. They were flying through Smoky Canyon to the final target.

“I was looking out the right window, watching the terrain and wildlife. Everything seemed fine,” Smith recalled. “We looked plenty high off the ground. It was a smooth flight. We saw the last target, and everything looked good.”

“Then we started to turn to head back down,” he continued. “That’s when I heard the pilot say, ‘Prepare to crash.'”

Smith didn’t have a chance to cover his face when the plane made impact with a tree. “I didn’t even have time to raise my arms,” he said. “I heard the crashing and impact. I don’t remember seeing anything after that — only hearing it.”

“When we hit the ground, everything was pitch black,” he continued. “I grabbed my phone, unbuckled my seat belt and sat there confused.

“I reached up and felt both sides of my head near my temples. It felt soft. I knew immediately I had serious head injuries. I was bleeding badly from the left side of my head.”

Smith was able to communicate with his co-worker, Evan Hathaway, who had just enough signal to radio for help.

“After the call, Evan came back and helped untangle my feet and sit me upright with my back against the pilot’s seat. He shut off the ignition,” Smith recalled. “I asked him to apply pressure to my head wound. He took off his shirt, wrapped it around my head, and showed me where to hold.”

“He helped the pilot next,” Smith continued. “Then he gave both of us a priesthood blessing.”

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They had crashed in an area northwest of the Smoky Canyon Mine, according to a news release from the Caribou County Sheriff’s Office. One of the paramedics dispatched to the crash site was Travis Osmond. He recalled hiking up with Cooper Jensen with supplies in a pack.

As soon as Osmond heard the names of the men in need of help, he said, “I turned to Cooper and said, ‘Cooper, we’ve got to jog. We’ve got to run up this mountain.’”

It took the rescue team 40 minutes to arrive. Throughout the rescue, Smith said he witnessed miracles. He did not feel pain, and time seemed to pass quickly — later, he recalled it felt like only 30 seconds before help arrived.

Several search and rescue team members checked the men and prepared them for transport off the mountain. Smith was given an IV and eventually loaded onto a medical helicopter to be transported to Idaho Falls for further medical care.

When Smith woke up days later, everything was still black. Doctors confirmed what the swelling had hidden: Both optic nerves were damaged beyond repair. Smith was permanently blind.

He survived severe head trauma, multiple reconstructive surgeries, and a traumatic brain injury that required the removal of part of his frontal lobe. Doctors later told Smith he was a miracle, as fewer than 10% of people involved in airplane crashes like this one make it to the hospital alive.

“I remember thinking, ‘OK … now what?’” Smith said.

What came next

Those who have heard the story from Smith understand the impact that those around him had on his recovery. They are the friends, family and community members who flooded him, his wife and their six children with love and support.

“This community has been wonderful to me and my family already,” he said.

Smith speaks especially highly of his lifelong friend Scott Schwab.

“Luckily, I’ve got friends like Scott and lots of others, but Scott is a perfect example,” Smith said. “We’ll go for drives, and we’ll just get out of the house and run to town, and we’ll stop and we’ll get a Coke or a drink, you know.”

Smith wouldn’t let the loss of his sight keep him from enjoying what he has always been passionate about: his family and the outdoors. He would eventually hunt again. He would fish. He would work. It would just look different from before.

When Smith attended a rehabilitation school in Boise, he said he was most surprised to find they had a fully equipped workshop with all the usual power tools and saws he could want.

“It did shock me that I was completely blind, and we’re running this type of stuff. It was amazing what they taught me to do,” Smith said. “And then not only that, how to get around with (being blind).”

Smith said he was also taught how to listen for traffic and get around while cars are coming and going. “It’s pretty intimidating,” he said.

When he was able, Smith learned how to hunt with a GoPro camera. The camera sends the video feed to his phone via Bluetooth, allowing someone to watch the livestream and guide Smith’s shot, letting him know when he is aligned for a successful hit.

He said he wants others who lose their sight to know their lives do not end there — and that the passions they love can still give them purpose.

Helping others

This past December, Smith and Schwab partnered to start a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called The Blind Leading the Blind. Their vision statement is: “To empower the visually impaired to overcome barriers, discover their potential and achieve their dreams through mentorship and community support.”

Smith said many visually impaired individuals can feel isolated or like they no longer know where their place is.

He remembers listening to a woman on a call who shared her feelings of being a burden to her adult children as she asked for simple favors like a ride somewhere.

“That is terrible. But I get it because I feel that same way a lot of the times,” Smith said.

The loss of independence can slowly turn into stepping back from the world, but Smith wants to create opportunities that replace that isolation with experience. Whether it is fishing, hunting or simply being outside — the goal is participation.

“It’s not that you can’t do it. We just do it a little differently,” he said. That’s what The Blind Leading the Blind will help others do.

Smith shared a story about a man from Idaho Falls who is blind and reached out to Smith for help in filling a late-season elk hunting tag. Smith secured access to private property and spent two snowy weekends helping the man navigate the terrain and set up for a shot. The man also brought his brother and another friend along.

The first weekend trip didn’t result in them getting an elk, but the second weekend carried higher stakes.

When the group spotted an elk, Smith said the Idaho Falls man’s brother would lie on top of him to look through the rifle’s scope, line up the shot, and tell the man when to fire. Two elk were spotted, two shots lined up, but nothing hit.

The group continued hiking and found more elk roughly 700 yards away. Smith said he had stayed back, thinking there was “no way” after two missed chances at closer distances that the man would have success at that distance. Then, he heard the shot — and the distinct sound of a hit.

“I knew he had hit this elk, and they started hootin’ and hollerin,’” Smith said.

Following their celebratory shouts, Smith made his way to join the men and shared in their excitement. The Idaho man brought home meat for his family — something he wasn’t sure he would ever do again.

The experience reinforced what Smith already believed: Vision loss does not eliminate ability.

Smith and Schwab want to make opportunities like this more accessible and consistent. So, they are pursuing grants and donations to purchase a boat designed with safety and adaptability in mind, allowing participants to fish or simply enjoy time on the water.

Schwab said the purpose of being outdoors is not just to have fun, but also to go and enjoy nature. You don’t have to see it; you can listen, feel, smell and enjoy the company of others, he said.

The goal is not a single event. “Our vision isn’t just to do a one-time thing,” Smith said. He wants to create something lasting: shared experiences that rebuild confidence and remind people they are still capable, still needed, still part of something.

For Smith, the outdoors has always been more than recreation. It is where he feels grounded. It is where he feels capable. Whether he is fishing, hunting or even helping change a starter on a truck, he said, “It was awesome just to feel useful.”

That feeling — usefulness — is what he hopes others rediscover.

He said he knows how easy it is after vision loss to feel sidelined or “pushed into a corner.” Getting outside interrupts that. It replaces isolation with shared experience and shifts the focus from what is gone to what remains.

“You can sit there and not do anything and just be out enjoying that day out on the lake,” he said. “You don’t have to fish.”

For a man who once heard the words “prepare to crash,” and woke to a world that was permanently black, the outdoors remains a place of purpose.

Now, through The Blind Leading the Blind, he is helping others rediscover that same sense of capability — to participate, to feel useful again, and to remember their lives are not defined by what they have lost.

Those interested in learning more, follow The Blind Leading the Blind on Facebook and Instagram. Interacting with their posts is encouraged. A website was also recently launched.

Donations are being accepted via Venmo by searching @BLBWyo, or via PayPal.

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