Adventurer Weihenmayer To Discuss ‘Turning Adversity Into Opportunity' At HIMMS14
By Wendy Grafius, contributing writer
Despite losing his vision at 13, Weihenmayer become accomplished mountain climber, paraglider, skier, and kayaker; will discuss how to make the impossible possible
Addresses by the impressive slate of keynote speakers at HIMSS14 will conclude on Feb. 27 with a talk by Erik Weihenmayer, world class blind adventurer, author, and humanitarian. Considered one of the world’s most engaging, inspiring, and in-demand speakers, Weihenmayer will speak about harnessing the power of adversity and using it as fuel for greatness. His extraordinary experiences prove that vision for one’s life does not come from perfect eyesight.
While in the midst of losing his sight at age 13, the distraught Weihenmayer was inspired by a chance TV sighting of Terry Fox, a cancer-stricken leg amputee, who, in the face of tremendous pain and adversity, used sheer determination to run across Canada. Inspired by Fox’s courage, Weihenmayer resolved to seize hold of the challenge that losing his eyesight presented him, and rather than overcome it, to use its force as a launching pad for innovation, growth, and strength. What followed has been a life anything but ordinary.
A former middle school teacher and wrestling coach, in 2001 at the age of 26, Weihenmayer became the only blind man in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. In 2003, his four-person team was one of only 42 teams to complete the Primal Quest, one of the most brutal adventure races in the world. Averaging two hours of sleep a night, the group crossed 457 miles of the Sierra Nevada in nine days with 60,000 feet elevation gain and no time-outs.
In 2006, Weihenmayer founded the Adventure Team Challenge, forming teams with both able-bodied and disabled athletes to compete in adventure races. By 2008, upon scaling the Carstenz Pyramid in Austral-Asia, he became one of only 100 adventurers to climb the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. Additionally, in 2010, Weihenmayer became the first blind person to complete the Leadville 100 mountain bike race on a tandem.
The adventurer has experienced great success as an author and filmmaker as well. His first book, Touch the Top of the World, was published in 12 countries and nine languages, and subsequently made into an A&E “Movie of the Week” and then released on DVD. The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles into Everyday Greatness, Weihenmayer’s second critically acclaimed book, was published in January 2007. And his award-winning films include Farther Than the Eye Can See and Blindsight.
In 2005, Weihenmayer helped found No Barriers USA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people push through their own barriers in order to live full and active lives. And, in 2010, his team created the Soldiers to the Summit Program, in which 12 severely disabled Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were escorted to the summit of a 20,100 foot peak in Nepal, documented in the currently-running feature film High Ground.
SOURCE: HIMSS
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