There are over 50 million people in the United States alone with disabilities. These people have the same range of desire for adventures as anyone. Around the world, many people are proving that conditions which seem limiting can not deter anyone from realizing a dream.
A few years ago, impressive feats in the out-of-doors by persons with limitations such as amputations, visual impairment, or advancing age were rare. Now, spurred on by new attitudes about abilities, and often aided by technology, more and more differently abled adventurers are accomplishing extreme feats.
One of the best known disabled athletes is Mark Wellman. Injured in a mountain descent in 1982, he became a paraplegic, but has worked his way back to climb El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite. He was the first paraplegic to sit-ski the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Wellman shares his experiences to motivate others to accept no limits.
Walt Balenovich, on the other hand, has been in a wheelchair all his life after contracting polio as an infant. He set out to backpack around the world, alone. His adventure is chronicled in his book “Travels in a Blue Chair.” Like Wellman, he aims to give back. Some of the proceeds from the book go to vaccinate children against polio.
Bill Irwin became the first blind person to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone, guided by his dog, Orient. He humorously explains how he was as unprepared for a long solo hike as many of the sighted people who set out to hike that trail. Bill says, “Let no one kill your impossible dreams.” It might be noted that the first woman to hike the entire AT was “Granny” Emma Gatewood. She did so at age 71.
The number of people attempting to scale Mount Everest has grown significantly in recent years, with over 3000 total ascents. In 2008, Min Bahadur Sherchan, a 76-year-old Nepalese man became the oldest person to climb the earth’s highest peak. He beat the record set in 2007 by Katsusuke Yanagisawa of Japan who was 71 at the time of his climb.
A classic story of accomplishment by an older man is that of Joshua Slocum. “Sailing Alone Around the World” chronicles his 1895 voyage. By today’s standards perhaps Slocum wasn’t ancient, but at age 51 he set off on a home-built boat to circumnavigate the globe alone. He succeeded, and inspired many younger sailors to give it a try.
At the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, Sarah Will, mono-skier, took first place in the slalom, Super-G, giant slalom, and downhill. She became the first woman to sweep all four events at the Paralympics. Will was paralyzed in a 1988 ski accident.
These stories are only a small handful of the many heros who have proven that equipment can be adapted, obstacles overcome, and dreams can come true. Truly, people are only differently-abled, no longer disabled and pushed to the edges of society. Anyone with the desire for adventures can have their dreams fulfilled.
Tags: Adventure for people with disabilities, Expeditions for disabled people, How can a disabled person have an adventure
