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When
a climbing accident left mountaineer Gary Guller
without the use of his left arm, his hopes of ever
climbing again were shattered. But in Spring 2001,
Gary's biggest dream will be realized. He will travel
to Nepal's Himalaya to attempt to summit the world's
highest mountain.
Gary
began rock climbing in the southeast in his early
teens and quickly moved on to other mountain ranges
throughout the US. He soon set his sites on the bigger
mountains of the world. In 1986, while Gary and two
close friends were climbing, all three plummeted down
a hard icy face more than 1,500 feet. A rescue team
found the group three days later. His good friend
Jerry had died; Gary and Dave were evacuated to
hospitals in the US.
Gary's
neck was broken and the nerve roots going to his left
arm were pulled out of the spinal cord, resulting in
paralysis of his left arm and shoulder. In the two
years following the accident, he was experiencing
intolerable pain and was on heavy medication. Gary
underwent surgery to repair his broken neck
(successful!) and highly risky surgery to alleviate
the chronic nerve pain (Duke University -
successful!). He also had experimental surgery at Duke
performed by Dr. Alan Friedman to regain partial
movement of his arm. Unfortunately, this operation was
not successful and Gary made the difficult decision to
have his paralyzed left arm amputated.
Over
the past years Gary has resumed his outdoor pursuits,
climbing in Europe and South America and in 1997,
attempting Nepal's Lhotse, the 4th highest mountain in
the world. Since 1997, he has spent the majority of
time in Nepal and Tibet, trekking and climbing
throughout the high Himalaya. He and his wife Joni met
in Nepal.
In
climbing Mt. Everest, Gary wants to raise awareness
and support for the potential of people with
disabilities and to show that life and dreams
continue. The expedition is called Everest Expedition
2001 "Anything
is Possible". For Gary, Everest is just the
beginning. Stay tuned....
If
you are interested in being finding out more about this
unique expedition, please e-mail/call
for further information.
For
more information on Everest 2001 expeditions news from
EverestNews.com see here.
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