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 Steve Lefkowitz,
LA Council Rep
I
became disabled in February of 1980. I was climbing in the Andes in
Argentina when something went wrong with my breathing overnight
while I was sleeping on the side of the mountain (at about 18,600
feet). I didn't get enough oxygen to my brain and it resulted in
some subsequent brain damage. I spent the next seven months in
various hospitals, and then started five more months of outpatient
therapy.
It was
during this period in one of my peer group therapy sessions that a
fellow group member told me about a new group that was just forming
whose main focus was helping people with disabilities ski. This
seemed right up my alley as I had been an avid skier as well as a
mountaineer, and in fact, I loved all things alpine. But, I thought,
no way could I ski given my present condition. Well, he kept pushing
the group saying what a great group of caring people they were and
that I had nothing to lose. So, partly to shut him up and partly
because of my own curiosity, I went to some of their meetings and
then in February or March of 1981 I went on my first Unrecables ski
trip in our local mountains. He was right - it was a great group of
people, and guess what!! - It still is!! I've been skiing with The
Unrecables now for 23 years as a disabled skier and my world is a
better place for me in part because I get to go skiing.
Just
seeing the snow and feeling the cold on my cheeks again had me
hooked. I've often thought that my love of the mountains, the
attraction they had for me, and my willingness to do "whatever it
takes" to get back in those mountains aided greatly in my
rehabilitation. Now that I'm the Vice President, perhaps I'll have
even more conviction when I tell someone else to give the Unrecables
a try - what a bunch of great people!! |
