A while back, we posted about Jonathan Kuniholm ’02, ’03 MID, MS, who was planning to climb Mt. Denali, North America’s highest mountain, with three other disabled veterans. Earlier this week, he had to abandon the climb after reaching just over 16,000 feet because of his potential to develop high altitude pulmonary edema.
“While I’m obviously pretty disappointed not to still be there trying for the summit, I’m very proud of what the team has (and will have) accomplished. I view this as just the beginning steps in trying to deal with our respective challenges, and think that there is a lot that we can learn to make these (and the most basic of) tasks easier for others.”
Kuniholm lost his right arm to a roadside bomb in Iraq and helped to make the arm he used on this trip. “I’d like to try to centralize on Open Prosthetics what I’ve learned about climbing with a prosthetic arm and the solutions and equipment that make it possible,” he writes on his blog.
. . . It’s onward and upward for the group. Not only will they face all the usual difficulties the mountain presents, each will tackle their individual challenges resulting from their own disabilities.
In addition to the blog, the team has a detailed itinerary and a GPS feed so you can track their progress live. We’ll share highlights with you over the next several weeks.
Update: Check out this KTUU story on the team’s final preparations for the climb. (more…)
CBS’s 60 Minutes recently talked with Jonathan Kuniholm ’02, ’03 MID, MS for a fascinating piece on advances in prosthetics technologies. Kuniholm, who lost his right arm to a roadside bomb in Iraq, is doing some amazing work in the area at Duke University. In the segment, Kuniholm controls the movement of a prosthetic hand simply by thinking about it. Fast forward to 10:24 to see him. And read NC State magazine’s Spring 2008 article on him.
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