Life with Cerebral Palsy and... with passion.

In Poland for ten years, every year, I was at camps of climbing for people with disability. It's one of my reportage about such a camp.

 

 

MY CLIMBING ADVENTURE WITH GOOD SPIRITS
 

 

At the beginning of August the Foundation of the Spirit for the Natural Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons organized another climbing and horse-riding camp. A group composed of disabled persons and volunteers came to the small and picturesque village of Podlesice in Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska.

Rock climbing is an elite sport even for able-bodied persons and is associated with a kind of extremity out of disabled people’s reach. However... Since the beginning of the project of rehabilitation through rock climbing for people with various disabilities, the Foundation can count on a very reliable group of collaborators. Bogdan Krauze – the founder of the first school of alpinism in Poland, recommended well qualified instructors – among others the rescue workers from the GOPR's department in Jura, including their leader - Piotr van der Coghen, who provides all-terrain vehicles to transport the disabled participants directly to the rocks. The foundation and the instructors provide the participants with special climbing equipment. They also bring two horses for hipotherapy under the rocks.

The disabled participants of these camps suffer from various diseases – from cerebral palsy through serious mental retardation to hernia. This was my eighth camp, I went there for the first time in 2001. I remember those first 2 weeks were extremely difficult. I will always remember the sharpness of the rocks. Each step resulted in “falling off” the rock and lots of bruises. Still I wanted more and more...

In Podlesice, we stayed in private rooms for 2 or 3 people. Every day, after breakfast, we met near the foundation's bus, which transported the less disabled participants to the place chosen for that day. The participants with serious disabilities were transported in GOPR's cars. We set off for beautiful and vast rock areas, a couple kilometers from Podlesice. It's hard to believe that thousands of years ago this area was covered by an ocean. However, numerous fossils of plants and animals, that were found here by tourists, prove it.

As the rocks have different heights and different levels of difficulty, our instructors chose carefully those which were appropriate for the participants, taking into account their physical abilities and climbing methods.

The rocks are of different height and different level of difficulty, therefore our instructors took time to choose the most appropriate ones for the participants, they took into account different physical abilities and climbing techniques of disabled persons.

It is difficult to explain what climbing means for a disabled person. The best way is to use one's own example... The brain hypoxemia, which occurred when I was being born, resulted in cerebral palsy. The activities requiring a physical effort make you breathe very deeply. The lungs work intensively and the oxygen goes to the brain, which results in reducing the spasticity. When “the road” is very difficult and interesting, which means when I can do myself most of the things in the “wall”, I'm very tired while going down the rock, I breathe with difficulty, my throat is dry, all my body is extremely weak. Normally my muscles are tense all the time, but directly after climbing I'm very relaxed and able to do almost anything.

Every time before climbing I put on the harness, with the instructor's assistance, I tie myself with a line, put on a helmet and set off. While I'm climbing, I have to look for the “steps” – the most prominent elements of the rock – with my legs and stick to them. In the same time I try to grasp them with my hands, maintain my body as long as possible and, if it's possible, pull it up, every centimeter counts. Unfortunately, my hands are very disabled and most work has to be done with my legs. The pulling movement is assisted by the instructor, who helps me straighten my legs and adhere to the rock. I feel the greatest satisfaction at the moment of touching up there the small metal jamming device which holds the line I'm attached to. This means the ends of the “road”.

Going down the rock consists in deviating from the wall by 45-50 degrees and going down facing the rock. According to Michał van der Coghen'a – the son of the leader of the GOPR's department – climbing itself and going down the rock are great forms of rehabilitation. Going down is considered as a very good balancing exercise. However, each moment of losing the balance results in falls and painful hits. Michał is a GOPR rescue worker, a qualified climbing instructor, a senior medical rescue instructor and a rehabilitator, he helps us during our camps, climbing with the most disabled participants.

Climbing has a great psychological effect on a disabled person. For many of us even a small rock means an incredible struggle against one's body, doubts and even fear. When I looked down on my wheelchair for the first time, I thought it was so small and useless. I also thought that if I'd managed to do it, I could do even more. At that time, eight years ago, I was assisted by three instructors. One of them stayed at the foot of the rock, the other two were with me on the “wall” helping me find the steps and maintain my body on them. It changed every year. I've chosen my itineraries for four years now. I like most climbing vertical rocks.

Climbing teaches you to be humble. Even the ambitious disabled persons should understand sometimes that they don't have to succeed in everything. Sometimes the road is too difficult, sometimes you have to choose another way, sometimes you're too tired ans sometimes the rock simply “doesn't let you in”. During the first camps I couldn't accept it. Whenever I didn't get to the jamming device, I felt defeated and even the stories of the most experienced climbers, who told me that sometimes they also had to give up, didn't make me feel better. I needed several years to learn from the rocks and from other people that I had to change my approach, that I couldn't be that ambitious and should fix myself goals that I could reach.

Climbing also means people... The ones who have been participating in the camps for years. The disabled and the able bodied persons and those who have been and will be forever the Good Spirits. On the first day of this year camp I learned a terrible news - 24th of June, a month and a half before the camp, died Bogdan Krauze – the Good Spirit for all of us. He was an experienced alpinist, the founder of the first school of alpinism in Poland. If he hadn't put at the disposal of the Foundation his school with the climbing equipment, if he hadn't invited the best instructors to cooperate, if he hadn't advised each of us on different matters, our camps probably wouldn't exist.

Since I started coming to Podlesice, Bogdan has always been there. I knew he was there. Every summer he organized climbing courses. During the day he was with his students on the rocks and in the evenings he gave lectures at his school. I listen to these lectures almost every evening and learned a lot. He never looked down on people, everybody respected him for this. I admired his incredible calm and attention while he spoke to people, especially to me. He helped me in critical moments, when I couldn't see anymore the sense of climbing, saying that every climber went through it from time to time. I brought him each of my published articles and books. I knew he was proud of me. People like Bogdan don't appear in your life very often. For many people Podlesice without him will not be the same.

This year I've managed to fulfill two dreams. The first one – climb the “Camel” - one of the highest and most difficult rocks. I'd dreamed about the “Camel” for a couple of years, I'd envied everyone I'd seen on its peak. Last year I'd only done half of the itinerary. Unfortunately, the rock hadn't let me in that time, but now, thanks to the cooperation with Tomek, an instructor who could feel my possibilities and Ewelina, who stayed at the foot of the rock, I managed to climb it.

On the last day of the camp, I managed to climb a small rock, but I managed to do it using only lower harness.... As Michał van der Coghen told me later it was so called „top roping” style of climbing. The only difference was that up to that point I usually climbed simultaneously with the instruktor and in that particular case the instruktor was standing at the bottom of the rock and he was giving only verbal instructions. Climbing with only lower harness means something slightly different... the rope does not go through the upper carabiner but it is dragged along by the climbing person. For me it was a very thrilling experience, it was the first time when no-one helped me during climbing.

I had to count on myself only. I had to use not only my legs and feet but also my hands. At first it was very difficuly, but I was thinking only to grab another part of the rock. As time was passing my fingers started to stretch. I was climbing for a very long time or so it seemed to me. When I touched the carabiner I screamed with Joy: Hurray! After that there was a beautiful descent during which I didn’t lose balance at all. I was very proud of myself and so tired as if I had been climbing two routes one after another. Several years before that great experience I had found it impossible to imagine myself climbing entirely on my own.

 

 

Olesia Kornienko