Catching up with … Kirk Bauer had to use his spare leg, but he made it to the top of Kilimanjaro.
He and his two double-amputee teammates reached the summit of the Kenyan landmark Aug. 7 — the climax of a journey meant to inspire people with disabilities that even those without legs could be active and healthy enough to scale mountains. Their attempt to reach the top was first reported on the Personal Best page in The Washington Examiner.
The team of war veterans from Disabled Sports USA had one good leg among them — Bauer lost a leg in the Vietnam War; teammates Neil Duncan and Dan Nevins lost both legs in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively.
Viewing their journey To see more photos of the veterans’ trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, visit www.warfightersports.org.
They reached the top of the mountain in six days. Bauer, 62, of Ellicott City, Md., said the climb came with many challenges.
“It was just really, really exhausting physically,” he said from Africa.
On top of that, the computer on Bauer’s prosthetic leg froze up near the 19,000-foot mark. He had to switch it out for his mechanical leg, but that one refused to stay attached to his stump.
Bauer said Duncan took some heavy falls. Nevins succumbed to altitude sickness on the return journey and had to be carried down on a stretcher.
Their climb made Nevins and Duncan the first double-amputees to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, Bauer said.
The team’s efforts were part of Disabled Sports USA’s Warfighter Sports Series, which helps disabled veterans regain confidence and strength through participation in extreme sports.
