Craig DeMartino survived a rock climbing accident in 2002.
“We went climbing up in Rocky Mountain National Park,” said DeMartino. “We started up a climb and just through a very small miscommunication, and 100 feet up in the air at this ledge, I was accidentally dropped.”
The accident almost cost him his life.
“They really didn’t think I was going to live overnight so they put me on a ventilator to breath,” said DeMartino.
His injuries resulted in a fused back and neck and the eventual amputation of his right leg.
“You realize really quickly there is no control and you are riding it out and seeing where it goes,” said DeMartino.
He learned to climb again and is now the leading adaptive climber in the U.S. with some notable firsts that include the following:
- The First Amputee Ascent of Yosemite's El Capitan in under 24 hours
- Leader of the First All Disabled Ascent of El Capitan
- Two-time National Adaptive Climbing Champion
- Two-time Bronze Medal Winner in Adaptive World Championships
The experiences inspired him to give back—so he started teaching rock climbing for Adaptive Adventures—a Denver based non-profit that helps adult amputees and veterans with physical disabilities become active again.
“Not only do I get to go climbing but now I get to take these people who may have never done it before and told they’ll never do it, and I get to say ‘no, we can go climbing no matter what',” said DeMartino.
And recently his journey has made it to the big screen—a film called “Craig’s Reaction” which is now on tour now with Adventure Film, where it’s already winning awards.
“The film documents a lot of that 'back to climbing' and that journey going back to climbing and realizing ‘oh, this is really cool’,” said DeMartino.
“At the time it was a really challenging thing for us as a family,” said his wife Cyndy DeMartino, “Now 15 years after the fact, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
DeMartino is concentrating on being a positive influence for other adaptive climbers and helping people get out of their comfort zones and try something they never thought they could do.
“I’ve seen the power that it has with people where they look at me and it gives them perspective into their own life,” said DeMartino.