Vet Climbs Mountain
I saw this on one of the military online blogs and thought it might make a truly nice Feel Good story. (No, that is not Kilimanjaro, but I needed a mountain.)
This soldier, SGT Adam Keys, who lost three limbs in Afghanistan to a truck bomb, did the strenuous climb to the top of Kilimanjaro on prosthetic legs, and has future plans for more things to keep himself busy. This story speaks for itself. There is a link to a video included in the article. He left his Purple Heart medal at the summit of Kilimanjaro.
That’s a 19,000++ foot climb, and there are plenty of guides and assistants, and they provide food, plenty of water, and shelter for climbers. There is also sunburn the higher you go, and the possibility of altitude sickness when you near the summit, if you aren’t used to heights, but the view from up there is beyond spectacular. My niece did the climb last year, got sunburnt, found herself freezing in the cold, but made it to one of the peaks, and developed altitude sickness while she was there and had to descend.
That he made it to the peak on prosthetic legs is, by itself, a huge feat. Kudos to SGT Keys and may he never run out of places to run or mountains to climb.
Category: Feel Good Stories
BZ!
https://www.google.com/search?q=kilimanjaro&client=firefox-b-1&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=U3Fqhz7PPug40M%253A%252CP6al3XMBmUNxOM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kSCUljeJqL6xZwtfNfKJbbJoUv8Jw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5uoGtgJPeAhUDnq0KHaxJCy4Q9QEwEnoECAIQDA#imgrc=m6ub7rC6Gu6rEM:
sort of a long URL, sorry. But it sure as hell is no Sunday stroll, either. Some sights say there is a 97% success rate to climb it.
“My driving force was the five guys who didn’t make it home.” Bravo Zulu SGT Keys, you are the man!… Hey Nike, Hey crapperadick, this is what a true hero acts like and this is what true sacrifice looks like. Planning to pass another weekend without watching nfl.
Once again, my able-bodied, four-limbed ass is shown for the pussy I am by a man with fewer limbs and more balls! I don’t know how technical of a climb Kilimanjaro is, but that would be an impressive feat for anyone either way.
Altitude sickness is a stealthy bitch. My niece went camping with us this last summer in the eastern Sierras and came down with it. It was really my fault for not seeing it coming, though. We live at 4,000 feet, so 10,000 is not that big a deal to me, my wife, or my kids, acclimation-wise. I failed to account for the fact that my niece lives at sea level, so Tioga Pass and Rock Creek Lake, without enough stops for acclimation, ruined her whole week.