Natalie and Caroline Kucko told me the following stories last week, through email, about their father’s immediate response after a crisis. Not quite a month ago, John Kucko was on the way home from photographing a double rainbow at Letchworth State Park. He had a seizure as he drove toward Rochester. His vehicle crashed, along Interstate 390.
When Kucko woke up at the hospital, his daughters noted he had two goals on his mind. One mission regarded Caroline, who was marrying her high school sweetheart, Max Hoadley, that Saturday. Kucko said he intended to be there, and he was.
The other imperative involved the Union Pacific “Big Boy” 4014 locomotive, which would soon cross Kucko’s beloved railroad trestle at Letchworth. That bridge plays a giant emotional role in Kucko’s life. He had planned on sharing that moment with his massive social media audience.
This one turned out to be impossible. The doctors, after the accident, discovered a brain tumor. Kucko required surgery to remove it at the University of Rochester Medical Center, only days before Big Boy rumbled through Letchworth.
Natalie — a television news anchor in Rochester, as her father was for years — described in her note how she was there to cover it, thinking of her dad.
My Father’s Day column, then, is a surprise for Kucko, a guy whose work and passion I deeply appreciate. With the she-put-it-together help of his wife Charla, I asked his daughters for some reflections about their father. My goal was a simple one.
Kucko and I met for the first time last year at Taughannock Falls, for a long conversation that became a column. After the car accident, I wrote another piece recalling Kucko’s story, how a longtime sportscaster transformed himself a decade ago into a beloved digital traveler and storyteller – a transition inspired by a visit with Charla to Letchworth, where they heard the whistle as a train crossed the bridge. My recent column was one small piece of an extraordinary international deluge of love and concern and support, for Kucko.
His audience — roughly 745,000 followers on Facebook alone — is global, though his focus is essentially the natural and historic magnitude of the landscape surrounding the western Thruway corridor anchored by Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. Thousands upon thousands who are moved by what he does – these beautiful passages on waterfalls and lighthouses, on summer blossoms and fierce storms on the Great Lakes – reached out to Kucko and his family.
Since his work is such a unifying gift, I tried to think of what column might matter most to him right now. The reflections of his daughters — Caroline, I note with gratitude, responded from her honeymoon — seemed a clear best choice.
Before I share their notes, here’s Charla’s update on her husband’s progress. Any editing for space in these messages, by the way, is extremely light:
(John’s) brain surgery at URMC, performed by neurosurgeon Dr. Tyler Schmidt in partnership with the Center for Translational Brain Mapping, was highly successful. We are deeply grateful to the entire team at URMC Strong and the Wilmot Cancer Center for their exceptional care.
The outpouring of love, prayers and support for John and our family over the past three weeks has been incredible. It has been such a huge comfort to our family. It’s been astounding to see the thousands of messages of support on John’s Facebook page. The stories that people have shared about their own medical struggles have been so touching. Many have overcome impossible obstacles and are thriving now.
John has a positive and optimistic mindset. He’s on a healing journey and that will take time. With his doctors’ approval, we are living our lives each day, getting out and experiencing the beauty around us. The difference is now I’m in the driver’s seat. 😊 I love seeing him light up when we go on outings together to his favorite spots nearby. We’re taking it slow and enjoying the time together. It really is a gift to have such beauty all around us here in Western New York. We’re determined to embrace each day and not take anything for granted.
Thanks to Charla, I connected with both daughters, who offered swift and passionate replies. This Father’s Day tribute is courtesy of Natalie:
My dad wears many hats. I think the community has come to know him as ‘the sports guy’ or ‘the nature photographer.’ But really, he’s so much more than that. Above all, he’s a dad — and the best kind. I’d call him multiple times a day, if not more, and it didn’t matter if he was in the middle of a gorge shooting waterfalls with limited service. He’d answer. He’s the type of dad to drop whatever he is doing to be a listening ear to support and guide you in the right direction.
From 2022-2023, my dad and I referred to each other as ‘co-anchors.’ We became only the second father/daughter anchor team on record nationwide, and we had a lot of fun doing it. The experience was met with some challenges, as you might expect when a family starts working together. It was a dream neither of us really thought would come to life embarking on our own separate careers in broadcasting, but it did.
My family is overwhelmingly grateful for the support we’ve received since my dad’s diagnosis. People we’ve never met have sent quilts, prayer blankets that have been blessed at local churches, countless cards filled with inspirational messages, and more. I think it speaks to the influence my dad has made on our community. He looks for the good, and he wants to pass that good forward. That, I believe, is his true life’s mission.
It’s no secret that Letchworth State Park is my dad’s favorite place to be. The historic crossing of Big Boy 4014 was on my dad’s calendar for a year or longer. When my dad woke up in the ICU after his crash, all he could tell the nurses treating him was how badly he wanted to get out and photograph this train.
During my dad’s recovery, my news director at WROC called me in and asked if I’d be interested in covering the big event. It wasn’t in my original plans, but I couldn’t say no. My photographer, Eric Schedlbauer, and I left first thing in the morning and we waited hours for the engine to cross the Genesee Arch Bridge. I ended up running into my dad’s park buddies. They made me feel right at home, carving out a spot to place my camera and tripod as it was so crowded.
I got a bit emotional that day, realizing I was quite literally following in my dad’s footsteps. That’s been the story of my life though, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
This is the companion reflection from Caroline, a publicist at Sirius XM Radio, who builds into an ending that shares our great communal wish for Kucko, on Father’s Day:
My dad devotes 110% of himself to everything he does, especially his role as a father. I can’t say enough about his influence in my life. First and foremost, my dad is my best friend. The time I spent with him throughout my childhood felt like pure magic. Whether it was our yearly trips to Pittsburgh where I fell in love with the city that would eventually become my home for four years or the time he pulled off the impossible by orchestrating a chance for me to meet my favorite Steelers player, Antonio Brown, my dad added so much color to my life and really put in the time and effort to make every moment a lasting memory, all while planting the seeds for my future.
His favorite line was, “One day, you’ll tell your kids this story.”
My dad has always had a deep love and appreciation for the beauty of this region. I accompanied him on many of his early shoots when he got his first Canon camera and I noticed something in him started to shift.
What initially began as his first hobby outside of his non-stop sports career to relieve stress quickly transformed into his life’s purpose… his true calling. He was totally transfixed. Suddenly the endless Bills trips gave way to an entirely new dream. It caught us all by surprise, even him. But that’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from my dad — dreams can change and it’s never too late to pursue a new path. Good things await beyond your comfort zone.
The outpouring of love and support over the past few weeks has been such a gift for our family and a testament to my dad’s impact. I knew he meant a lot to people for various reasons but wow. Whenever I had a moment of hopelessness throughout the last few weeks, I’d just scroll through the endless messages of support and success stories and it would instantly restore my faith and optimism.
I couldn’t be more proud of my dad. His unmatched resolve and courage is what is saving his life day by day and making a difference in his recovery. It’s truly remarkable. I have full confidence that he will dominate whatever lies ahead because that’s the nature of who he is. He’s a go-getter. He doesn’t take no for an answer. He defies the odds.
His presence at my wedding is a perfect example. The moment he woke up in the hospital, he was insistent that the wedding would proceed, that he would make it there, and that it would be spectacular. Of course, he was right. As he likes to remind me, he’s rarely wrong!
I caught my dad’s eye a few times throughout the night and he just couldn’t stop smiling. He did it. It was truly miraculous. I have faith that the miracles aren’t over just yet.
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