3 war veteran amputees climb Kilimanjaro
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3 war veteran amputees climb Kilimanjaro with one good leg among them
Veteran Neil Duncan makes his way up the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania last week. Duncan lost his legs in Afghanistan.
Guide Godlisten Moshi, left, leads U.S. veterans Neil Duncan, Dan Nevins and Kirk Bauer.
Kirk Bauer, left, Neil Duncan and Dan Nevins standat Gilman's point before making the last push to Kilimanjaro's summit.
NAIROBI, Kenya — The three American veterans from three different wars had only one good leg among them. But that didn't stop them from reaching the summit of Africa's highest mountain.
The three soldiers — veterans of Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam — scrambled, clawed and plodded to the top of Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, hiking up the domed mountain's scree-filled paths on one human leg and five prosthetics made of titanium and carbon fiber.
They skidded. They fell. They removed their legs to adjust their shoes. And after six days of climbing, they stood at 19,340 feet — Africa's highest point.
"The message we're trying to send back to the USA is no matter what disability you have, you can be active," said Kirk Bauer, the executive director of Disabled Sports USA and a 62-year-old Vietnam veteran who lost his leg in 1969. Bauer, of Ellicott City, Md., was one of the triumphant climbers.
"If three amputees from three different wars and two different generations, with literally one good leg, can climb Kilimanjaro, our other disabled friends can get out and go hiking or go biking or swim a mile, can get out and lead a healthy life," he said.
Kilimanjaro's lower paths are flat dirt, but higher trails turn to a rock and scree blend difficult for prosthetics. In the loose rock the artificial legs slid backward, leading Duncan to feel like he was climbing the mountain twice.
"It's an incredible amount of work, as you can imagine, but one of the most difficult portions of the whole deal was the assent from 15,500 to 19,000," said Duncan, a student at the University of Denver. The rocks were "real loose, real steep. With having no feet or ankles, I was lacking the ability to grip into that dirt."
Going down — the part many climbers say is the hardest on the body — was no easier for the amputees. Duncan lost his footing and somersaulted. Bauer's artificial leg fell off.
"I have only one real knee, and it takes an incredible amount of stress from falling," Duncan said. "It's more of a controlled fall down the mountain. It's not a graceful process, I assure you."
Duncan, who retired from the Army in 2007, ran with former President George Bush that same year. He hopes to run the Army Ten-Miler in Washington, D.C., in October.
The Kilimanjaro trip was sponsored by Disabled Sports USA and other donors. The group's mission is to provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities to develop independence, fitness and confidence through sports and recreational programs.