Everest 2006: Tim

©EverestNews.com

On September 11, 2001 our nation was attacked and the Twin Towers fell in New York City, my former home.

Unfortunately I had to watch the horrific news reports from a hospital bed. The night before, while riding my motorcycle, I was involved in an accident that almost ended my life and my ability to walk.

When all was said and done, and the medical staff had finished patching me up as best they could, I had 5 broken vertebrae repaired with a steel cage, a shattered knee replaced with metal and plastic, a broken finger, and my left foot was going to be amputated. Six surgeries later my foot was saved but would never be the same. 

September 11, 2001 was not only the beginning of a long journey for our country, but it was the beginning of my own journey down the road of rehabilitation. I was not only determined that I would walk again, but I would walk normally, and without a cane. There is a Japanese expression that goes, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". I realized that there are setbacks in life, I just never figured that I would be setback to the beginning.

The next months were painful both physically and mentally, which sent me into a path of self destruction. When my rehabilitation was finished and the therapists had taken my body as far as they could, it just wasn't enough I knew then I had to take it into my own hands, but how?  

Six years ago I read Jon Krakuaer's book 'Into Thin Air'. The book had a profound effect on me, and now I had my answer, Mt. Everest would be my highway to recovery.  

Always looking for the next adventure, I decided I was going to attempt to summit Everest.

This decision put my rehabilitation efforts on a new level. I now had to make my body stronger than it ever was, and I intended to push even harder so that soon my footprint would be on the Summit of Everest. Last year I reached 24,000 feet, and I intend to make an ascent this spring. Not to 24,000 feet, but to 29,035 feet, the top.

- Tim

More on Tim soon....

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