short inspirational
“Nobody said that it would be easy, they just promised that it would be worth it.”
Here is a short inspirational story I think you’re going to be amazed with.
On Thanksgiving Day in 1979 in Pocatello, Idaho, Tom Whittaker was involved in a collision with a drunken driver. It left him with two shattered legs and a severed foot. He eventually had his right kneecap removed and and his right foot had to be amputated.
Up until then he had been a mountaineer, but now his family and friends sat by his bedside and wept. In his own words, he said,”They had written me off. They figured I’d never climb again. I told them I’d climb the Outer Limits in Yosemite (Valley, Calif.), within two years. They figured, ‘He’s not only beat up, but delusional.’ I found I had to prove myself.”
Tom made the Yosemite climb within the two years, as promised.
He then decided to climb Mount Everest, but his first two attempts were unsuccessful.
However, undaunted, on May 27, 1998, he completed the ascent, becoming the first disabled person in history to reach the top. This time, he also led the team up the mountain! He thinks the prosthetic he wore during the climb helped, but it was a hindrance on the way down when there was more snow.
In 2006, because he was originally a native of England, Queen Elizabeth II honored Whittaker for his service to disabled people and service to mountain climbing.
Tom spends a lot of time as a motivational, inspirational speaker, I have a feeling his motto would be just a short, simple: “Just Do It”………..
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The Tom Whittaker Story One Step At A Time [VHS] $24.95 An Everest summit attempt is a high stakes gamble. Over the years, 160 people have died making the attempt; never to return from one of the harshest environments on earth. 1998 was no exception. Several experienced climbers lost their lives. Climbing Everest couldn’t be a more difficult or dangerous human undertaking, for even the strongest, healthiest, and most-experienced mountaineers. Which is … |
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The Tom Whittaker Story One Step at a Time [VHS] $9.95 An Everest summit attempt is a high stakes gamble. Over the years, 160 people have died making the attempt; never to return from one of the harshest environments on earth. 1998 was no exception. Several experienced climbers lost their lives. Climbing Everest couldn’t be a more difficult or dangerous human undertaking, for even the strongest, healthiest, and most-experienced mountaineers. Which is … |
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The Tom Whittaker Story One Step at a Time $18.56 An Everest summit attempt is a high stakes gamble. Over the years, 160 people have died making the attempt; never to return from one of the harshest environments on earth. 1998 was no exception. Several experienced climbers lost their lives. Climbing Everest couldn’t be a more difficult or dangerous human undertaking, for even the strongest, healthiest, and most-experienced mountaineers. Which is … |
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Famous Americans: Story of Helen Keller [VHS] $3.38 … |
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Helen Keller:in Her Story [VHS] $29.95 It is easy to see why this gentle documentary, as elegant as its subject, won an Academy Award in 1955. Narrated by actress Katharine Cornell and filmed in black and white, it spends the first 24 minutes introducing viewers, through newsreels, interviews, and old photographs, to the story of the deaf and blind disabled-rights pioneer. News footage shows her international appearances and visits wit… |
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Unconquered: Helen Keller in Her Story and VISIONS in Silent Darkness $24.99 It is easy to see why this gentle documentary, as elegant as its subject, won an Academy Award in 1955. Narrated by actress Katharine Cornell and filmed in black and white, it spends the first 24 minutes introducing viewers, through newsreels, interviews, and old photographs, to the story of the deaf and blind disabled-rights pioneer. News footage shows her international appearances and visits wit… |