Thank you Tim...it certainly feels odd to me as well. I've never even had a broken bone. I'm very detail oriented too. It still blows me mind that this happened. My wife worries an awful lot too, she still tries to encourage me and be as supportive as she can though. Just encourage your nephew to make absolutely sure his his gear is in order on each and every climb.
RL...Thank you sir. No surgery as of now. I have to go back for a check up/Xray on June 7th. If everything is healing well then the doctor will order PT at that point. If not, well, I don't know yet. No issues with spinal cord or anything that I'm aware of, no herniated discs. L1-L3 have compression fractures, the worst being in L2. Losing muscle is one of the things I'm afraid of. I still want to try to climb something in Washington at the end of June. I'm just hoping that something isn't a mere bump of a hill. I'll take whatever I can get though. Slow and steady for me. I just have to keep telling myself that.
Oh and those books...I have all of those. "Touching the Void" scares the heck out of me. Excellent reads though, all of them. I'm just about finished with Maurice Herzog's "Annapurna". Another good one, and a classic to boot!
Kirk...Thanks again. And absolutely share this info with your son.
Brad...Yep, it was most likely the failure to double back that buckle. Even after I did it the first time I put the harness on. Not sure what I was thinking that I failed to make sure that was done prior to climbing. I'm sure I'll be checking every other minute when I start climbing again. That will certainly haunt me for quite a while, that damn complacency is a killer. I'm fortunate enough to not have met the same fate as your pilots/crews. That still makes me shutter. So anyway, make some plans say between 6/29 and 7/5 to go climb or play for a day if you can get away for a bit. One of the guys on the Rainier team is going after Adams, I may try to join him on the 7th for that if I'm up to it. You're welcome to join us for that if you can. I'll touch base with you again as we get closer to the dates.
Tom...you got that right. I'm so glad I didn't have to go to our local hospital. Cleveland Clinic is so much better. No complaints (other than my last nurse) from me. They were on top the game there. Thank you kindly for the well wishes.
Randy... That's awesome that your boy is so involved with climbing. Keep him at it, My accident was just that, an accident. It happens unfortunately. Just tell him to stay extra vigilant when he's tying in etc. Double and triple check everything, then have your partner do the same for you. This is why I shared what happened, just to bring some extra awareness to others that like to play. And I have told my daughter this numerous times...You aren't invincible. You can get hurt and you can make mistakes. Respect what you are doing with an understanding of the consequences if you do slip up. I'm hoping my daughter takes this to heart a bit more now. And I hope your boy does as well. Thank you!
Troy...Thank you kindly sir! I'll be waiting on some pictures of a nice longbeard from you with that call. I'm going to miss our opener this weekend. I'm okay with that though. I've had better luck in the late season and the crowds are all but gone around here. Good luck to ya!!
And thanks again everybody, I really do appreciate it.
Steve