Today we feature a guest blogger. A warm Reggie's Place welcome to Justin Reimer as he shares a very personal and inspirational story about his son Eli. To hear more about their story and to support their foundation please visit: http://www.theelishafoundation.org/
Good stuff Justin! Congratulations to you, Eli, and the rest of your crew!
This story began almost two years ago
when I reconnected with an old friend (Kevin Padgett). Kevin had the
idea of trekking to Mt. Everest Base Camp as a fundraiser for The Elisha
Foundation, our non-profit organization working to reach and encourage the
disabled. This adventure had a purpose beyond the fundraising though. The
purpose was to raise awareness of the needs of those impacted by disability
around the world. My son, Eli (15 year old sophomore in high school), myself,
and 7 other teammates signed up for the trip and we all began mentally and
physically preparing for the long road ahead.
The Trek4TEF Mt. Everest Base Camp trek
was officially launched in March of 2012, as the effort to raise funds and our
team got under way. Our departure date was March 1, 2013. This gave us a full
year to raise our $10,000 per team member fundraising goal. It also gave us
time to do the physical training needed to accomplish this trek and gather the
gear needed for the trail. For Eli, it meant lots of mileage on the
stair-climber and a visit to Altrec.
Entering Nepal
We arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal on the
night of March 4th and spent the next day visiting sites and grabbing any
remaining gear needed for the trek. This was also our initial bit of “bonding”
time as a Team. We traveled the sights of the city before heading back to prep
for the flight to Lukla the next morning and the first day on the trail.
The Himalayas
The flight from Kathmandu was
CRAZY beautiful. As we rose above the city smog, you could see
the Himalayas reaching up towards the heavens. It was jawdropping! Words
or pictures cannot do it justice – these mountains are just freakishly large
- the Himalayan mountain range has
over 100 mountain peaks exceeding 23,000ft. We descended over a
handful of ridgelines before the runway of the Lukla Airport came into view,
cut into the mountainside in front of us. We approached quickly and …BANG,
rattle, rattle we were there! (and in one piece…thank you Jesus!)
Eli is a fit and strong young man but none-the-less we were
concerned about some of the physical challenges that can come with Down Syndrome
– low muscle tone, heart issues, etc. Due to the unknowns of Eli’s unique
physiology we didn’t know how his body would respond to the rigors of the trail
and effects of high altitude (even though his doctors all approved and released
him to go on this trip). Because of this uncertainty, our Team knew that every
overnight stop in the villages along the way was a “summit” for Eli. As we
would approach our stop for the night one of us would call out, “Summit #3…” or
whatever number it was. We all hoped that Eli would make it to that magically
significant “Summit Day” at Mt. Everest Base Camp but knew that each and every
step was a missive accomplishment.
Tea breaks and music stops with Eli were a normal part of
life on the trail. Music really helped Eli stay motivated, as did stories and a
hand or arm to hold while hiking. On various days of the trek we all had the
chance to take Eli under our wing and make sure he was in good spirits. But he
also helped us and pushed us every day as he led the team on the trail for the
majority of the trip. He was a champion! He honestly outdid most of us on this
whole journey. While the rest of the team was getting sick, loosing our
appetite and loosing sleep each night due to the high altitude, Eli charged on,
ate enough food for two people at every meal and slept like a rock every single
night – he was made for this sort of adventure.
The terrain approaching Base Camp is
all small boulders and a landslide area of gravel, shale, and rock that is
being continually carved out by the glacier. As we approached Base Camp we
tried to really wrap our minds around what was happening and what we were
accomplishing.
The whole point of this trip wasn’t that Eli would do something no
one had ever done before (although the media loved that and spread the news far
and wide).
The
point in all of this was to spread a message of hope and love. To be able to
talk about disability in a different light, and maybe help the world understand
that it’s nothing to hide or run away from. We wanted to show and talk about
how each of us are created uniquely and for a purpose and how each of us have
value. Most of all, that we have hope in something Greater.
We will see what adventures lie ahead
for Eli but right now he is spending his summer along side us, his family,
serving the disabled in Ukraine who have massive cultural mountains to climb
for acceptance and proper care. Beyond that, maybe Kilimanjaro will call his
name...
- Justin
Reimer
Husband, proud father of Eli and 4
other beauties
