A tragic fall in March 2020 left Fr. Don Hyatt totally blind, but his joy despite the outcome of the accident and his embrace of life continue to inspire.

“God can always intervene, but maybe he wants me to go through this,” Fr. Hyatt said in August of his blindness. “It seems that when people see me as damaged, they open up more.”

Serving Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Truth or Consequences and its missions since 2000, Fr. Hyatt is working now to learn a new way of life at age 81. He is working with an individual who lost his sight in his teens and now helps those who lose their sight to “see again,” using their other God-given senses.

Just six months after the accident, he is living in a casita on the property of one of his parishioners and with the help of many people. He is learning to use an iPhone for the blind and to navigate the streets on his own while two people follow to keep him on track as he learns. People come over to read spiritual books to him. He’s easing back into ministry; he has gone out with help to anoint the sick and he gave a talk at a funeral. He hopes to do more when the COVID-19 restrictions ease. 

“I’m limited as to what I can do,” he says. “Part of my face is still paralyzed, but it’s slowly working its way back. Thank God I have people to take care of me.”

Fr. Hyatt, a Basilian Father originally from Rochester, N.Y., joined the faculty of St. Pius X High School in February 1979 as a math teacher. Over the next 21 years he taught everything from basic math to calculus and served as the school’s chaplain. He celebrated school Masses and led retreats. He moderated the Chess Club and the Native American Club, taking members to feast days at pueblos around the state and the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow at the Pit. He made the move with SPX from the Louisiana Boulevard campus to the West Side. 

“We discuss philosophy, physics, math, psychology, history — he is very much an intellectual,” said Phil Zuber, who taught at SPX with Fr. Hyatt. The two have remained friends. “But he could really relate to high school kids. He would weave all level of meaning into his homilies. He was full of joy always.”

Fr. Hyatt retired from SPX in 2000 and moved to the small village of Monticello, N.M., about 30 miles northwest of T or C, living in the rectory next to the Catholic Mission Church of St. Ignatius and serving the surrounding missions of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Arrey, Garfield and Hillsboro. 

“Pius students always stood out to me in their concern for each other,” Fr. Hyatt said. “Our students looked after each other.”

Fr. Hyatt hopes to return to his home in Monticello and his work for God and community, but he cannot do that without special help and modifications to the home to allow him to function without his eyesight. An account has been established to help in his recovery and the modifications. If you would like to learn more, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/father-don-hyatt039s-eyes-from-god.