Members of the Cloud Walkers pose in camp on Day 4 of their Mt. Kilimanjaro climb. They are (from left), George Osgood, Karwin McCain (team physician), Kevin Robinson, Johnny Martinez, Scott Wilson, Rick Smith (team medic), Mona Patel (team leader), Cory Torres, Greg Lego (team physical therapist), Justin Pfaff (team prosthetist/amputee), and Ian Warshak. Photo: Courtesy /Mona Patel
Members of the Cloud Walkers wanted to show that even those who are amputees can do something like climbing Kilimanjaro. Mona Patel, who has worn a prosthetic leg since 1997 and leads the amputee support group San Antonio Amputee Foundation, hand-picked the members of the Cloud Walkers (team motto: “For those willing to overcome, we will show the world you can walk among the clouds”) for the once-in-a-lifetime climb. Under her leadership, and after months of training climbs at area parks and in Taos, New Mexico, all but one of the Cloud Walkers made it to the summit the legendary mountain which, at 19,341 feet, is the highest peak in Africa and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world.
The Cloud Walkers included eight climbers, all amputees, along with the four-person medical staff and three-person film crew documenting the climb. One of the amputees participating in the climb received services from Freedom Resource Center years ago, when Donene Feist worked in our Jamestown, ND office, as an Independent Living Advocate.
For the complete article, go to:http://www.expressnews.com/lifestyle/article/S-A-amputees-conquer-Mt-Kilimanjaro-6770434.php?t=cc89c94e7f01065692&cmpid=email-premium#photo-9275998
For information on the Cloud Walkers, visithttp://www.saamputeefoundation.org/
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