Between captaining a fishing boat in Alaska, bartending in Vegas and sleeping on the beaches of Hawaii, Thomas Covington has lived nothing short of a colorful life. 

This is Covington’s story as he tells it, as much of the information in this story could not be verified.

Covington moved to Chico with his family at 4-years-old when his father accepted a position as the general manager for Grand Auto. His parents divorced a couple of years later when he was still in middle school. 

Covington said that he had a hard time getting through high school. During his junior year, he had a baby with his girlfriend. At graduation, some of the women who worked for the school made the baby, Ryan, a miniature cap and gown. He said that he didn’t graduate due to absences. 

When his relationship ended, Covington was 19. Deciding that he was “done with Chico,” he moved to Anchorage, Alaska, to live with his two older brothers.

During his time in Alaska, Covington worked in the automotive industry. He picked up various jobs, but said that he didn’t enjoy most of them. At his 21st birthday party, he met a girl named Cherie. They immediately hit it off and started dating, he said. 

Covington and Cherie had two sons together in Anchorage. They were together for eight years before they separated. Their reason for separation was not made clear in Covington’s retelling. 

Covington decided that he wanted to live in Las Vegas, where he had previously worked a summer job with a friend. He flew into Las Vegas without a plan and he ended up homeless for a short period of time. 

Upon arriving in Vegas, Covington said, “I saw the strip for the first time and thought, ‘God, this is Disneyland for adults.’” 

Covington said that he walked up and down the strip every day in search of a job. He stored his belongings in four navy blue duffel bags, which he was able to stash at a local shelter. After a few weeks of searching, Covington was hired as a barback at a casino. 

Throughout his time in Vegas, Covington received calls that Cherie was drunk driving with his sons in the car. Though he expressed concern for the situation, he never took action against it.

Covington eventually got word that Cherie had died in a car accident. She was reportedly sober.

He left Vegas to take over custody of his sons in Alaska. He remembers taking the two boys on a walk to tell them about Cherie’s death. 

“That’s a hard thing to tell a kid,” Covington said. 

He ended up suing the people involved in the accident, where he won a large sum of money that he set aside for his kids’ college tuition. Covington raised the boys in Alaska until they were old enough to live on their own.

Covington described his passion for fishing while he lived in Alaska. He claimed to have been a captain of a fishing charter, called “Tom’s Charter.” He said that he made most of his living running the boat and taking tourists on fishing trips. 

Covington moved to Hawaii after his sons left for college. In Hawaii, he lived on various beaches with a girl he met from Russia.

He had a stroke one night and was sent to a rehabilitation hospital, where he lived for a year. He was paralyzed on the left side of his body and couldn’t walk. He said that his memory was faulty, and he had to relearn the alphabet and names of colors. 

Covington said that he still struggles with recalling information. 

“It’s like the last four numbers in a phone number… you know you know it, but it’s just lost in your brain,” Covington said. 

Dealing with the aftermath of his stroke forced Covington to move to Sandpoint, Idaho, to live with his mother. During his time in Idaho, he injured himself while tripping over the oven door in his kitchen and had to have his arm amputated. 

Covington moved back to Chico after recovering from both the stroke and amputation. He has been camped on a wheelchair ramp under a building near the Downtown Plaza for years now. He said that he is on disability and is unable to work.

Covington said that his plan moving forward is to make it back to Alaska. He is waiting for his friend to give him a ride to the Sacramento International Airport in a few weeks. 

“I’m looking forward to having my own place again. I’ve forgotten what that’s like; it’s been so long,” he said. 

Lexi Lynn can be reached at [email protected].