Welcome to
Celebrating Life in Recovery
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I'm Cheri your host.
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Have you ever thought
about, when does recovery end?
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When are you done? When
have you done all the steps?
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When can you relax and sit down?
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That is what we are going
to talk about today and it
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absolutely the
coolest to answer.
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You got to come and join us.
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You know when I first got
into recovery I thought that
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there was going to
be a time where I could
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just relax about all that.
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At first I thought I
would just have to stop doing
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heroine and my
recovery would be over.
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Somebody said that if you
stop everything is going to
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be okay, well I stopped
and I stood there and thought
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wow I wonder if
okay feels like this?
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It did not feel okay to me
and then I realized that I had
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to do one more thing, and
I had to learn how to live
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with out drugs and then I
had to learn something else.
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Then I had to learn something
else and then we talked about,
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on the season, I
ended up with leukemia,
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being diagnosed with cancer.
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Then it is another whole gig
so it is really interesting to
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me that in my mind I thought
recovery was just doing a
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specific thing
for a specific reason.
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Like eating right and living
right and sleeping right in
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order to not do the heroine.
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Then I realized that it really
is learning life skills so
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that what ever hits
me doesn't take me down.
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I want you to really pay
attention to this program
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because what is really
interesting to me is there is
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nobody that I know that isn't
getting hit with something.
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The people that I am falling
in love with lately, they get
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hit and they stand back up.
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It is absolutely amazing. So
we are going to talk about that.
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I am going to introduce
you to a friend of mine, man,
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you are going to be blessed.
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So come on up.
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You know I wanted to
say, welcome to the show.
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Thank you, thank you
so much for asking me.
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The first time I heard your
story I was flipping through,
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I think, U-Tube or something.
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I all of a sudden ran across
your testimony and it stopped
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me because I thought I am
dealing with a lot of things in
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my life and yet I am
looking at you thinking Man!
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So Craig! I'm glad I
could do that for you.
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DeMartino and I want
you to introduce yourself,
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but not from the point
where everybody thinks you're
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going to start, but how
did you grow up, who are you?
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That is so fun because
it all builds into where
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it ended up anyway.
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Craig DeMartino, born in
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Pennsylvania and grew up a
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typical regular, nothing crazy
brother, sister youngest kid.
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I think probably favored a
little bit but that is okay too.
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I went to college.
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I married the baby of the
family, they are so different.
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We're nice,
forget it, it's good.
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It's good to be favorite.
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Went to college and graduated
with a degree in photography.
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I wasn't a Christian at that
time and didn't go to church.
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I basically did
what ever I wanted to do.
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It wasn't bad, I wasn't doing
anything out of the ordinary,
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other than partying,
doing the regular stuff.
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I was definitely focused on me.
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I went to college and then
started to work for Associated
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Press and went into
journalism mostly, doing photo
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journalism as I
got out of school.
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I did that for about eight
years and then decided to start
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my own small photo studio
in Philadelphia and I did that.
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About that same time a friend
of mine was getting married.
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He wanted to have this
bachelor party, typical.
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He said but we are
going to go rock climbing.
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I was like that is odd, but
it is better than strip club
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or whatever, so we
went rock climbing.
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So were you a rock
climber at the time?
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Not even close, I mean I
had seen maybe on National
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Geographic and thought
that was insane but no inkling
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to go do it, nothing I
didn't know any climbers.
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We went out, he had a
friend who was a climber,
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and we went out to this
little place in Pennsylvania.
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This real scrappy little
cliff and we went climbing.
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It was the first time,
my brother was an amazing
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football player and I
was really good at art,
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so you see how that would work.
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My dad loved...
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Your dad was like
is he gay. Gay Gosh!
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I tried it, I try to
play football and they all
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hit you and that is not
fun so I was never really
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into sports in school.
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So I went into climbing,
and climbing made sense to me.
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All of a sudden it was
like click, this light went off.
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I start to pursue it more.
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So you loved it right away?
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I loved at the very first
day, while I want to know more
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about this, how
this stuff works,
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and I wanted to
learn, learn, learn.
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There are a lot of different
disciplines in climbing.
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There is rock climbing, which
is going straight up a Cliff.
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There is ice climbing, which
is going up frozen waterfalls.
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Then there's big wall climbing,
which is stuff that takes
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more than a day like El
Capitan in Yosemite, large walls
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were it takes multiple days.
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Then there is bouldering,
where you climb up a rope and
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climb as far as it
is comfortable falling.
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You do not want to fall,
that is different for everybody.
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It is really interesting,
because I never have looked at
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something and say
how bad can I get hurt.
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And how far could I climb?
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How far can I go
down before I get hurt?
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That is bouldering,
evaluating those risks.
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So I thought I want to be
good in all these disciplines.
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I want to do it all, so I did.
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I started to learn everything
I could and climbing in
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Pennsylvania was very limiting
so I would go up to New York
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climbing in the Shaw
gunk's where I learned to climb
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a lot of
multi-like pitches routes.
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This is more than one rope
laying, most ropes at that time
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were 150 feet, so
you can do the math.
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So 300 feet you
have to break into two.
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I just start to really
fall in love with the whole
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process of moving upward.
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That is what I love
about planning is that you are
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problem-solving vertically,
that is all you are doing.
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It is very fun
and independent thing.
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And in that moment, it's like
if I hang in here I am figuring
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out where is my
foot going to go next?
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I'm not thinking I'm wondering
if the checkbook is balanced.
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I'm focused on
the 4 feet around me.
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I think it's beautiful
thing to boil your life
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down to that clarity.
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I absolutely loved it and I
went out to Yosemite to climb
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with some...
It's beautiful. It is.
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Yes it's beautifully, you
see this amazing creation there.
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You see the small details, I
mean you see plants that grow
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on the sides of 2000
foot cliffs that are coming
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out of a crack, it is
like how did they get there?
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You see the swallows
that fly on the cliffs.
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You see the animals
that move in the cliffs.
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It is an amazing place to be.
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So that became my
passion and I loved it.
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I pursued it wholeheartedly,
my job fell to the wayside
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and I am a photographer by
trade and that is what I do.
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I loved doing that but
climbing became this thing where
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this is what I want to be
doing so I went out west and
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started climbing out West some.
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I just fell in love with it.
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I came through
Colorado to visit an old school
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friend of mine and her husband.
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She said, come and crash on
our floor for a while and I did
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that as I was
driving back to Philly.
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As I look back, I go Ah this
is when God was really doing
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stuff and I had no idea.
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And I was like whatever.
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I was doing my thing and came
back through and stayed with
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her and she showed me
around Colorado a little bit.
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Just in that front Range
area and I fell in love with it.
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Incredible climbing place?
Incredible climbing place!
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I took a pen and put it on a
map and drew a 50 mile circle
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around Ft. Collins, Loveland
area which was where I lived.
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I said okay what is around
there, and with in that 50 mile
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radius there were four or
five major climbing areas.
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Areas that people go
to once in a lifetime.
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I thought that is
where want to live.
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So I went home to Philadelphia
and thought how do I do this?
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So I just thought I'll pack
all my stuff up and go there
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and get a job I guess.
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So I went to Barnes & Noble
in Philly where I was living and
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got a paper and went through
the Sunday paper from Denver.
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The Denver Post and there was
a photography job which never
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happens, you just
don't find photography jobs.
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This company in
Loveland Colorado.
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So it's perfect?
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I'm not even sure where
that is, I had heard of it.
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I called my friend and said
where is Loveland and she said
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it's the next town over.
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It's a Christian company
and I'm like that is weird,
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but I really want to
move there so I'll call them.
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I called them up and they say
we closed the process already.
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I said but did you fill it?
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They said no, but I
said, can I send my book out?
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And they said yes
so I sent my portfolio.
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The art director
wanted a secular person.
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He didn't just say
that's to the people there.
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They look at my book
and he said that's the guy.
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We want that guy.
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So they call me back
and we would like to fly
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you out for an interview.
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At the time I had hair down
to here, and I thought I should
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clean up so I cut my
hair and fly out there.
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My whole thought process
is I'll work for them for two
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months, quit and they
will pay my moving expenses
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and it'll be awesome.
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So I get out there and they
hire me and everything is great.
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They moved me out and I
was doing my thing and I meet
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two guys who are climbers.
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They are like, why
don't you come climb with us?
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We go out and we are climbing,
this is about a month into
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the whole process
of me working there.
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The one guy says,
have you ever worked for a
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Christian company before?
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I said no, no.
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Your like I would
not have done that.
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He said okay here are a few
tips, number one you have to
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stop swearing because
they get really upset.
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To me from Philadelphia
it was my vernacular,
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I just didn't know.
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That is really funny to me
because it wasn't that you were
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being rude by swearing,
this was just my language.
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F- word was to me an adjective,
it was everything to me.
00:10:00.24\00:10:04.57
It worked it did people
understood when I said it.
00:10:04.60\00:10:07.72
So I said that's
okay it's good to know.
00:10:07.76\00:10:10.32
He said second of all
do you even believe in
00:10:10.36\00:10:12.88
what they believe in?
00:10:12.92\00:10:14.33
I'm like, I don't even
know what they believe,
00:10:14.37\00:10:16.61
because when they hired
me the owner said to me,
00:10:16.65\00:10:18.82
do you know you are going to
work for a Christian company?
00:10:18.85\00:10:22.53
I said yes, she said, do
you have a problem with that?
00:10:22.57\00:10:26.18
I was like, no as long as you
do not have a problem with me.
00:10:26.21\00:10:30.50
As you know a typical, we're
cool as long as everybody knows
00:10:30.54\00:10:34.79
where everybody is.
00:10:34.83\00:10:35.80
She said, no we
are fine with that.
00:10:35.81\00:10:37.09
She's laughing herself and
I'm laughing at myself thinking
00:10:37.12\00:10:40.15
I'm getting over on them.
00:10:40.19\00:10:41.74
So we go through this process
and slowly it was open to me
00:10:41.77\00:10:45.41
that I started to work in
these churches and photograph
00:10:45.45\00:10:49.05
these youth groups,
youth leaders and pastor's.
00:10:49.09\00:10:51.25
I would listen to them
talk and I would think, man,
00:10:51.28\00:10:53.41
they have
something I don't have.
00:10:53.45\00:10:55.22
I want that and what is
that, it is not tangible.
00:10:55.25\00:10:58.22
I do not know what it is.
00:10:58.25\00:10:59.22
I would listen to them talk
and listen to their sermons and
00:10:59.23\00:11:02.01
am like, oh I get
it, this is a God thing.
00:11:02.05\00:11:05.49
God just slowly worked
on my heart and at the time
00:11:05.53\00:11:08.53
I was with Cindy,
who later became my wife.
00:11:08.57\00:11:11.63
We were living together.
00:11:11.67\00:11:12.79
So I slowly, we were in
college so I slowly introduced
00:11:12.82\00:11:16.19
this information I am
getting on a daily basis.
00:11:16.23\00:11:19.34
I'm saying what
you think about this?
00:11:19.38\00:11:20.60
What do you think about that?
00:11:20.64\00:11:21.61
I'm thinking she is going
to run, but she slowly is like
00:11:21.62\00:11:24.40
that is making sense too.
00:11:24.43\00:11:27.35
So we slowly went down the
path together and I thought wow
00:11:27.39\00:11:30.03
were living together,
probably we shouldn't do that.
00:11:30.06\00:11:33.87
So we got married and started
our faith journey together,
00:11:33.91\00:11:37.69
and started our
marriage together,
00:11:37.72\00:11:39.21
it was around the same time.
00:11:39.25\00:11:40.67
So it was cool to get
into it and learn together
00:11:40.71\00:11:43.61
and grow together, and
we got to a point where
00:11:43.65\00:11:46.51
we were very comfortable.
00:11:46.55\00:11:48.15
It was about two
years into our marriage.
00:11:48.18\00:11:49.83
I just have to say for a
lot of people they have to grab
00:11:49.87\00:11:52.35
you by the throat and
say you stop living together,
00:11:52.38\00:11:54.80
and God says I'll take care
of it and I will do it in a way
00:11:54.83\00:11:58.66
that is just gentle and they
will know that they are loved.
00:11:58.70\00:12:02.49
It is a whole another
thing and I love hearing when
00:12:02.52\00:12:06.07
God does that when someone.
00:12:06.11\00:12:07.42
It just opens your
eyes, all the sudden,
00:12:07.45\00:12:09.20
you go, this is wrong.
00:12:09.23\00:12:10.35
You shouldn't do this.
00:12:10.39\00:12:11.43
Not because the group said
hey, knock it off, because they
00:12:11.47\00:12:15.19
knew we were living together.
00:12:15.22\00:12:16.43
People knew that, and yet
to us with our background,
00:12:16.47\00:12:19.55
it was like what's
wrong, were saving money.
00:12:19.58\00:12:21.52
It is actually better
than just being casual,
00:12:23.67\00:12:26.56
we are making a commitment,
in a worldly sense it actually
00:12:26.59\00:12:30.01
is that you have
done the right thing.
00:12:30.04\00:12:31.80
We are saying that I'm going
to be with you no matter what.
00:12:31.84\00:12:34.93
We just didn't have
that piece of paper.
00:12:34.96\00:12:37.39
We go get married and
have a beautiful wedding,
00:12:37.42\00:12:39.72
and our faith
grows, everything is great.
00:12:39.75\00:12:42.01
We have our first child,
she is awesome and we get even
00:12:42.05\00:12:46.35
tighter, our faith grows.
00:12:46.38\00:12:47.79
After our second child is
born our faith hit this plateau,
00:12:47.83\00:12:54.70
we were solid and I
believe God had a plan for me.
00:12:54.73\00:12:57.68
I believed all those things
but it was very comfortable.
00:12:57.72\00:13:01.86
It was also one of where
I would move things around,
00:13:01.90\00:13:05.98
I would say God is important
to me, but if it is really sunny
00:13:06.01\00:13:09.91
I'm probably going to go
climb instead of go to church.
00:13:09.94\00:13:12.53
If I had the
opportunity do something else,
00:13:12.57\00:13:15.78
I'm going to go
and do something else.
00:13:15.81\00:13:16.88
I work in a Christian company
and I am getting enough stuff,
00:13:16.92\00:13:21.04
it's covered and that
was very comfortable to me.
00:13:21.07\00:13:24.69
I saw nothing wrong with
it and everything was cool.
00:13:24.72\00:13:28.27
All of a sudden July 21 rolls
around of 02 and everything
00:13:28.31\00:13:34.22
comes to a screeching stop
because then everything explodes
00:13:34.25\00:13:40.13
apart from me.
00:13:40.16\00:13:41.72
That was when I understood
where my faith really was,
00:13:41.76\00:13:45.74
I think.
00:13:45.77\00:13:46.92
Do you want to explain what
happened, or do you want to do
00:13:46.95\00:13:49.99
the roll-in and
then come back to it?
00:13:50.03\00:13:52.12
I think it would be
better if I explained it,
00:13:52.15\00:13:56.90
because if they
watch that roll-in,
00:13:56.93\00:13:58.21
they are going to go what?
00:13:58.25\00:13:59.54
So we will show that
later go ahead and explain
00:13:59.57\00:14:01.52
what happened on that day.
00:14:01.56\00:14:02.75
You are climbing like crazy.
00:14:02.79\00:14:03.92
Climbing like a fool, just
climbing a ton, five days a week
00:14:03.95\00:14:07.43
All over the
country, everywhere.
00:14:07.47\00:14:09.40
Cindy and I climbed
together all the time.
00:14:09.44\00:14:11.78
Cindy was my best partner up
until we had children and then
00:14:11.81\00:14:15.15
we had to tag team stuff.
00:14:15.18\00:14:16.34
What we would do is Cindy
would do something one day,
00:14:16.38\00:14:18.66
and I would watch the kids,
and then I would do something
00:14:18.69\00:14:20.93
the next day, and
she would watch the kids.
00:14:20.97\00:14:22.49
It was awesome, we
just worked it all out.
00:14:22.52\00:14:24.01
Climbing partners from
people at work? Absolutely!
00:14:25.10\00:14:27.78
Partners at work in the guy
who I was climbing with this
00:14:27.82\00:14:30.29
particular day was an
older climber who I had met.
00:14:30.33\00:14:32.29
He is a great guy
and a good friend.
00:14:32.32\00:14:33.65
Cindy the day before had run
a marathon up in the mountains
00:14:33.68\00:14:37.79
up in Leadville, she had run
a 50 K. so she was just tired.
00:14:37.83\00:14:41.90
She had run for
eight hours basically.
00:14:41.94\00:14:43.38
So I got up and fed the kids
breakfast and my friend Steve
00:14:43.42\00:14:46.12
shows up and we pile all
the gear in, I kissed everybody
00:14:46.15\00:14:49.15
and Cindy says goodbye and
we head up to the mountains,
00:14:49.19\00:14:52.15
Rocky Mountain National Park.
00:14:52.19\00:14:53.76
We are driving up there thinking
what we want to do and we
00:14:53.79\00:14:56.90
had a route in mind.
00:14:56.94\00:14:58.00
So we get up there, pack
all our stuff and just take off.
00:14:58.04\00:15:01.42
We wanted to climb about 4
miles in the backcountry so we
00:15:01.45\00:15:04.63
hiked back in and it took
about 45 minutes to get back
00:15:04.66\00:15:07.64
to the base and we wanted
to climb this route on a spiral
00:15:07.68\00:15:10.63
called Sundance Buttress,
which is about 1000 feet.
00:15:10.66\00:15:13.32
It will probably take most
the day but we thought if we
00:15:13.35\00:15:15.97
really hauled we could
get up it pretty quickly.
00:15:16.00\00:15:17.48
So we start off and I felt as
we were going out it was weird.
00:15:17.52\00:15:20.75
In retro speck I think I
felt really bad that day.
00:15:20.78\00:15:23.65
I felt just weird, but some
times when I am nervous about
00:15:23.68\00:15:26.52
climbing, before I do a
climb, I get this weird,
00:15:26.55\00:15:29.22
a little bit off and I
thought that is all it was.
00:15:29.25\00:15:31.88
And you need to work past that?
00:15:31.92\00:15:33.84
You get used to dealing
with fear and compartmentalize,
00:15:33.88\00:15:37.41
saying, okay I
don't need that right now,
00:15:37.44\00:15:40.48
so put it behind me.
00:15:40.51\00:15:41.58
Tied in and got everything
ready and started up the route.
00:15:41.61\00:15:44.73
We got about three pitches,
so roughly 4 or 500 feet,
00:15:44.76\00:15:48.16
somewhere like that.
00:15:48.19\00:15:49.16
We are under a really big roof
and we are watching this storm
00:15:49.17\00:15:52.08
come across the valley.
00:15:52.12\00:15:53.24
He and I are just sitting
there and as we are talking,
00:15:53.28\00:15:55.35
it starts to get
really windy and this is July.
00:15:55.38\00:15:58.02
It's hot and all of a sudden
it gets dark and we are watching
00:15:58.05\00:16:01.78
these clouds and it just
opens up and starts the hail,
00:16:01.82\00:16:04.74
the rain, grapple, starts
blowing all over the place.
00:16:04.77\00:16:07.62
And we are like okay this is
nice and were hanging under the
00:16:07.66\00:16:10.50
roof so we are still dry,
but we realize we are not going
00:16:10.54\00:16:13.35
to be able to go up
because the rocks are wet.
00:16:13.38\00:16:15.26
We rig everything for
repelling and we start
00:16:15.30\00:16:17.14
to work our way down.
00:16:17.18\00:16:18.37
Repelling for
someone who doesn't know,
00:16:18.40\00:16:20.08
that is just
pulling yourself down. Yeah!
00:16:20.12\00:16:21.72
Repelling is basically running
the rope through the anchors
00:16:21.76\00:16:24.04
that are there, which are
usually bolts are driven into
00:16:24.08\00:16:26.33
the rock on routes
like this that are popular.
00:16:26.36\00:16:28.42
You just click your rope
through that and repel down,
00:16:28.46\00:16:31.47
pull your rope to the
next station and you keep
00:16:31.50\00:16:34.48
repeating that process.
00:16:34.52\00:16:35.79
So three repels and we
are back to the ground.
00:16:35.82\00:16:38.55
We get on the ground
and the Sun comes back out.
00:16:38.58\00:16:41.23
So we eat some food and walk
up the cliff a little bit and
00:16:41.27\00:16:44.34
there were some single
pitch climbs, 150 foot climbs
00:16:44.37\00:16:47.38
scattered up the rock.
00:16:47.42\00:16:49.18
My friend Steve
knew some of the climbs.
00:16:49.21\00:16:51.89
One of them was a harder
route and it was dry and he
00:16:51.93\00:16:54.85
said do you want to try that?
00:16:54.88\00:16:56.04
I thought that would be cool.
00:16:56.08\00:16:57.16
I get my gear together and
as we were walking up we said
00:16:57.20\00:17:00.68
climbing has a vernacular
just like every sport.
00:17:00.72\00:17:03.26
We were going to top
rope, top rope means a person is
00:17:03.29\00:17:06.38
going to go up and anchor the
rope at the top of the climb.
00:17:06.42\00:17:09.00
The person down here, but rope
is like this so that person is
00:17:09.03\00:17:11.58
lowered and then he
belays from the ground.
00:17:11.62\00:17:13.90
Belay is when it runs through
a stitch plate and that is how
00:17:13.94\00:17:17.00
you stop the
person from falling.
00:17:17.04\00:17:18.31
I was going to go up and
he was going to lower me.
00:17:18.35\00:17:20.72
Then Steve would climb and I
would belay him from the ground.
00:17:20.75\00:17:23.81
We would do that is
many times as they wanted.
00:17:23.85\00:17:26.23
Someone has to go first
and get the rope up there.
00:17:26.26\00:17:28.61
Well I never
clarified that with Steve,
00:17:28.64\00:17:31.14
He said top rope, so
I just heard top rope.
00:17:31.17\00:17:33.06
I tied in and got my
gear and started up the rock.
00:17:33.09\00:17:36.69
I get up to the ledge and
the ledge was right at 94 feet.
00:17:36.72\00:17:40.45
When I say ledge it wasn't like
this, it was about 2 inches,
00:17:40.48\00:17:44.17
it was a fold in the rock,
00:17:44.21\00:17:46.28
and there were
two bolts driven in.
00:17:46.31\00:17:48.01
Got on that ledge and clipped
in, and again part of that
00:17:48.05\00:17:51.64
vernacular is off
belay, and I'm off belay.
00:17:51.68\00:17:54.34
He said okay, and here is
where we really separated.
00:17:54.37\00:17:58.00
He took me off belay, which
means he took the rope out.
00:17:58.03\00:18:02.09
Now we are not attached anymore,
I'm attached to the rock.
00:18:02.13\00:18:06.16
Clipped in with
two pieces of webbing,
00:18:06.19\00:18:07.86
hanging from these bolts.
00:18:07.90\00:18:09.38
I am getting the rope
ready to run through the anchor
00:18:09.41\00:18:12.33
because I think he's
going to lower me to the ground.
00:18:12.37\00:18:15.29
What he thought was, Craig
is going to bring me up to the
00:18:15.32\00:18:18.20
ledge, and we will repel off
together like we had just done.
00:18:18.23\00:18:21.06
But we never talked about that,
so he went to his backpack,
00:18:21.10\00:18:23.90
got his shoes and was
tying his shoes to climb up.
00:18:23.93\00:18:27.15
So I get everything
ready to lower and I yell down,
00:18:27.18\00:18:30.36
hey I'm ready it's all you.
00:18:30.40\00:18:33.01
He yells up okay, I hear okay.
00:18:33.05\00:18:35.60
He is not hooked in and
I go like that and look.
00:18:35.63\00:18:38.70
He says okay, okay great so
I unclip, pull in the anchor to
00:18:38.74\00:18:43.48
un-weight it and
unclip myself and push.
00:18:43.52\00:18:46.69
When I push back I
realize I'm falling.
00:18:46.73\00:18:49.86
So sometimes...
00:18:49.90\00:18:51.58
Because usually you would
feel the person holding on.
00:18:51.61\00:18:54.44
As soon as I push off
the anchor I feel the weight,
00:18:54.47\00:18:57.26
I feel the weight
going to the rope.
00:18:57.30\00:18:58.72
Previously, when I had been
lowered, sometimes there's slack
00:18:58.76\00:19:02.47
in the system, and
climbing ropes are dynamic.
00:19:02.51\00:19:05.09
They stretch about 15% of their
length, so sometimes you get
00:19:05.13\00:19:08.03
rope stretch, sometimes there's
just slack in the system.
00:19:08.06\00:19:10.93
The person may be
stepping back from the cliff
00:19:10.97\00:19:12.87
and they tripped or something.
00:19:12.91\00:19:13.91
I'm okay there's
just a lot of slack,
00:19:13.94\00:19:15.81
and it's going to go
tight in a second here.
00:19:15.85\00:19:17.79
I'm watching the anchor
go, and I'm like no it's not
00:19:17.83\00:19:20.65
going to go tight
and I just looked.
00:19:20.68\00:19:22.05
From bouldering, without
a rope, when you come off of
00:19:22.08\00:19:24.83
something you push to
get away from the rock.
00:19:24.87\00:19:27.18
Because you don't
want to hit the rock?
00:19:27.22\00:19:28.52
You don't want to hit the rock,
00:19:28.56\00:19:29.53
you don't want to
break your ankles.
00:19:29.54\00:19:30.51
You want to see where
you are going, so I did that,
00:19:30.52\00:19:32.19
that was my first
reaction was to push,
00:19:32.23\00:19:33.98
and I pushed and turned and
I saw the hillside over here.
00:19:34.02\00:19:37.46
I remember the clarity, I
can still tell you the trees,
00:19:37.50\00:19:40.90
boulders, everything, I
00:19:40.94\00:19:42.47
mean I can see everything.
00:19:42.50\00:19:43.96
I'm like nope I'm still going
and the next thing I realize
00:19:44.00\00:19:48.33
is that I am on my back looking
back up at the climb I had
00:19:48.37\00:19:52.67
just done, I
could see everything.
00:19:52.71\00:19:53.87
Steve is in my Peripheral
vision screaming at me.
00:19:53.90\00:19:56.76
What had happened was, as I
went, pushed, as I tipped back,
00:19:56.79\00:20:00.53
I was falling like that
and basically got horizontal.
00:20:00.56\00:20:04.28
If you hit the ground,
my feet were at 94 feet,
00:20:04.32\00:20:06.76
my head was around 100 feet.
00:20:06.80\00:20:10.26
To hit the ground going
that fast sideways everything
00:20:10.29\00:20:13.10
would just crush and explode
and you would die instantly.
00:20:13.14\00:20:16.18
Well as I was coming back
there was a dead tree and I hit
00:20:16.21\00:20:19.08
the tree with my face and
it's scraped me up like that.
00:20:19.12\00:20:21.88
But as it's scraped me it
also stood me and so I landed
00:20:21.91\00:20:24.91
actually standing straight
up and down on the talus.
00:20:24.94\00:20:27.86
The talus for people who don't
know, talus is blocks about
00:20:27.90\00:20:31.14
the size of this table actually
but jumbled, so they had come
00:20:31.17\00:20:34.38
off a cliff at one point
and they get all jumbled and it
00:20:34.41\00:20:37.72
is very uneven and I hit those
rocks and crumbled into those
00:20:37.75\00:20:41.02
and fell backwards.
00:20:41.06\00:20:42.36
Didn't have a helmet on,
because they don't wear a helmet
00:20:42.40\00:20:45.56
when I climb, even to
this day I don't wear helmet.
00:20:45.59\00:20:48.00
But I crumbled down and
fell backwards and my feet took
00:20:48.03\00:20:50.41
the brunt of everything.
00:20:50.44\00:20:51.58
When I hit the ground, I
hit it so hard that my shoes,
00:20:51.62\00:20:54.45
my climbing shoes exploded.
00:20:54.49\00:20:56.49
I shattered both my feet
were shattered and dislocated.
00:20:56.53\00:21:00.26
They came out of the skin.
00:21:00.30\00:21:02.38
Then my back snapped at L2,
I hit so hard that L2 actually
00:21:02.42\00:21:06.06
disintegrated, it disappeared
and blew into my spinal canal.
00:21:06.10\00:21:09.69
Then the shock wave went
up and broke my neck at C6 and
00:21:09.73\00:21:13.29
punctured my lung, I
broke my ribs, I busted this,
00:21:13.32\00:21:16.53
I broke the collar bone.
00:21:16.56\00:21:18.57
It's just like everything
broke all the way down?
00:21:18.60\00:21:21.00
The shock wave just rips
right out of your body because
00:21:21.04\00:21:22.74
it has to exit somehow.
00:21:22.78\00:21:23.98
I just crumbled onto the
ground and there I am laying.
00:21:24.01\00:21:27.43
And still aware.
00:21:27.47\00:21:29.92
Still aware very much
awake, but I was very confused.
00:21:29.96\00:21:33.56
When I realized what was
going on, I didn't even know
00:21:33.59\00:21:37.16
I fell at first and
he is screaming at me.
00:21:37.20\00:21:38.99
He is trying to get the bleeding
stopped because I broke,
00:21:39.02\00:21:40.78
I tore through the
arteries in my feet.
00:21:40.82\00:21:42.77
He is trying to get
the bleeding stopped
00:21:42.80\00:21:44.72
and to keep me awake.
00:21:44.75\00:21:45.72
So he is not panicking, he
is doing as much as he can.
00:21:45.75\00:21:49.28
We get the bleeding slowed
and he puts a tourniquet on my
00:21:49.31\00:21:53.68
legs and he realizes we are
four miles in the backcountry.
00:21:53.71\00:21:58.04
We're out here,
he's going to die.
00:21:58.08\00:22:02.07
He realizes I need
to run the 4 miles.
00:22:02.10\00:22:06.03
I can't even imagine, I mean
he loves you, you are friends?
00:22:06.06\00:22:10.00
Yeah were good friends and
end he is realizing, there is
00:22:10.03\00:22:13.94
blood all over the
place, his legs are annihilated,
00:22:13.97\00:22:16.48
I know that he is really
hurt and probably has internal
00:22:16.51\00:22:19.23
injuries and I keep telling
him how bad my back hurts.
00:22:19.26\00:22:21.95
My feet were so broken
I couldn't even feel them.
00:22:21.98\00:22:24.12
I said please get
me off these rocks.
00:22:24.16\00:22:28.28
So he sticks, now I have
no back, my neck is broken,
00:22:28.32\00:22:31.67
he sticks his arms under
here and he drags me down
00:22:31.71\00:22:35.03
the talus to some
dirt to get me level again.
00:22:35.06\00:22:37.69
And lays me there and gets
me as comfortable as he can.
00:22:37.72\00:22:40.87
He realizes he has to run
to the truck, drive to town,
00:22:40.91\00:22:44.02
get help and come back.
00:22:44.06\00:22:45.83
Probably at least an
hour and a half to do that.
00:22:45.87\00:22:50.59
I'm losing blood constantly.
00:22:50.62\00:22:52.17
So he gets up and he
takes off, we agreed that was
00:22:52.21\00:22:56.45
the best thing to do.
00:22:56.48\00:22:57.97
He gets his shoes and starts
to go and gets about 20 yards
00:22:58.01\00:23:02.03
down the trail and stops
turns around and comes back,
00:23:02.07\00:23:04.99
in his backpack he had a
cell phone which he never packed
00:23:05.03\00:23:07.92
his cell phone in his life.
00:23:07.95\00:23:09.10
Picks it up, we are
next to a thousand foot cliff
00:23:09.14\00:23:11.33
in the backcountry.
00:23:11.37\00:23:12.39
Because you don't take
your cell phone because
00:23:12.43\00:23:13.70
you never get a signal.
00:23:13.74\00:23:14.71
You never get signals
and we are in the park,
00:23:14.74\00:23:16.91
and he turns his
phone on and gets a signal.
00:23:16.94\00:23:19.03
He dials 911 and gets
the operator on the first go.
00:23:19.07\00:23:21.79
She is like what
happened where are you?
00:23:21.82\00:23:23.81
What is your emergency?
00:23:23.85\00:23:24.87
He goes through the whole thing,
00:23:24.91\00:23:26.06
and she is like okay don't move,
00:23:26.10\00:23:27.21
stay right where you are.
00:23:27.25\00:23:28.58
She patches him through
to Rocky Mountain rescue,
00:23:28.62\00:23:32.33
they are the guys that run
all the rescues in the park.
00:23:32.36\00:23:33.98
The guy who picks the
phone up, his name is Eric.
00:23:34.01\00:23:36.83
Eric is not only the
head of Rocky Mountain rescue,
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he is a climber.
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The year before a guy had
fallen in the gully next to me
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and died so Eric had
done that body carry out.
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He knew exactly what climb
I was on, he said he's on this
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climb called White Man
and he is at the base of it.
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Eric is like I know where he is.
I know exactly where he's at.
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So there is no wasting time,
he doesn't have to figure out?
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And the beauty is he doesn't
have to run all the way in,
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there is an access
road that the Park service
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is allowed to use.
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He drives the access road
he is literally at my side in
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40 minutes after I crash.
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He is sitting there saying okay,
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this is how it is going to work.
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The call has already gone out.
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Rocky Mountain
rescue is coming in.
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They are trying to do as
much as they can to control the
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bleeding, to control the trauma,
and I'm waiting and waiting.
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Long story short is that
it takes them about five hours
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to get the litter, get
me and a litter, get me down
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past the talus field to
where they can get me on a trail
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and then take me to a clearing
where the chopper can land.
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I fell at 2:30 so they said
we have this very small window
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of getting him to a chopper,
if we don't get him to a
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chopper, he is
probably going to die.
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Now they are
not telling me this,
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they are
telling each other that.
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The only reason I knew
that some thing was screwy was
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he said to me that a certain
amount of time had gone by.
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My world is just right
here, I'm seeing Eric over here,
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I am looking up and
Steve would be there.
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Eric came to me at one point
and said, do you want me to
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call your wife?
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I was like no don't call my
wife, my gosh don't, no, no, no.
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Thinking that she
is going to worry.
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This will freak her out.
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This will freak me out and
so I thought don't do that.
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More time goes by and he gets
back to my peripheral and says
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Craig what do you think
about calling your wife?
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I'm like, why
did you ask me twice?
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Then I thought
well, that's fine.
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He said later, I figured you
were going to die at any moment.
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We were just trying to get
you down so we could get you
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in the chopper, but I figured
you had lost so much blood,
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so much shock, so much trauma.
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I knew your lungs were busted
so that we could not give you
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any med's, because when your
lungs are collapsed if they give
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you morphine and it depresses
your breathing even more.
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So I just figured
this is a matter of time.
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He is so wrecked.
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Cindy gets the
call, which is hideous.
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I can't even imagine
her getting that call.
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It even makes me want to cry
now because I'm thinking, man.
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What a shock it was.
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And her knowing.
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Well he was
careful, he said Craig fell,
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his ankles are broken.
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But he didn't say that Craig
hit the ground, Craig fell.
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So she thought that I took
a big fall and swung into the
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rock and smashed my feet.
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She's like okay,
how bad is he hurt?
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He's hurt pretty bad, but they
are in the middle of a rescue
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you should probably get up here.
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So she got in her car,
remember she had run that race.
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She was really sore and said
man I got up there and I ran
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four miles and didn't even
think about being sore anymore.
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I just hoofed it in there
and she said the scale of the
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rescue is what set her off.
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She was like, why are
there so many people here?
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She gets up there and all of
a sudden she's in my peripheral
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vision, she said
the kids are good.
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She knows what I'm going to
be thinking about, the kids,
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wife, what's
going on, your confused.
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We talked for a little bit
and she told me later I just
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wanted Eric to do his job,
I didn't want to talk to you,
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I wanted him to concentrate
on getting you down there.
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They get me to the Valley,
get me on a wheeled gurney at
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that point and hoof it to a
clearing where the helicopter
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literally within 10 minutes
is going to shut down and say
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they can't fly out because
the cliffs are too close.
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So they get me out to
this clearing, chopper lands,
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get to me ready to go,
put me into the helicopter,
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and the last thing I remember
of that day is that the flight
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nurse looked at me and said
have you had any medication?
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I said no, he is like okay.
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I remember seeing him do
the syringe, boom that was it.
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I guess from talking to
them I have talked with them and
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actually gave them my
address and phone number and all
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that fun stuff but
I don't remember that.
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The next thing I remember
is coming to in intensive care.
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Being tied down and
not being able to move.
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Tied down so you
don't pull things out.
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Yeah I had a trache tube because
I could not breathe on my own.
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So I was tied to the bed at
that point is where this roll-in
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will makes sense because
they will see me being able
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to talk to the nurse but
just talk with my hands and my
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fingers and that was about it.
00:28:01.90\00:28:03.06
We are going to go
ahead and take a break.
00:28:03.09\00:28:05.36
We will show the
roll-in then come back in.
00:28:05.39\00:28:07.18
That is great.
00:28:07.21\00:28:08.37
I can't even
hardly breathe right now.
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We will be right
back, stay with us!
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