The Darkest Shadows Means The Brightest Light

"I bet you're tired of people asking what happened, aren't you?" 

It’s been a few weeks now since I have broken both of my feet and if I were to get a dollar for every time someone asked me that, I probably could have paid the medical bill for the surgery. The answer is no. Why should I be tired of people showing that they care? Sure, I could get annoyed with the situation, but that wouldn’t change it. So I might as well just embrace it and make the most of it!

Here is the story. A typical Friday in August in Ghana going rock climbing. Ok. So maybe that isn’t very typical, but I guess that’s just my life. I had spent the summer in Ghana running Yenso Solar, a social venture that Cole and Ariana Rosenberg and I started about two years ago. I was with four champions for the summer; Aldan Halterman, Seth Huber, Canyen Heimuli and Ryan Liston though Canyen had to leave a few weeks before. We had wrapped things up for the summer and were taking the last few days to have some adventures before going back home to the U S of A. We had planned it all out; surf at the beach for two days, climb the tallest mountain in Ghana the next day (a whopping 3000 feet tall) and then go rock climbing. We got to Kpong the night before and luckily met a kind friend named Abraham who helped us find a place to stay. We woke up early the next day and started making our way up Krobo Mountain.

Just so you know, Ghanaians don’t hike. When your whole life is spent outside working hard, you don’t have as much of an inclination to walk in the hot sun more than you have to. So, the trail going up the mountain was not as much of a trail but more of a water run-off route with giant rocks strewn about. We crawled up the mountain, all the while realizing how little hiking we had done in the past few months. After some search, we found the small gray bolts glinting in the sun on a rock face and we knew we were in the right place. I have done a good amount of climbing since making my trek West to go to school in Utah, so I lead climbed up the face and set up a top rope. The three guys crushed the route, especially Aldan since it was his first time ever climbing outside and he did it all barefoot. We saw that there was another route a bit more difficult on a boulder a few feet next to where we had been climbing, so I went up to see if I could easily jump over and set up the next route.

I was standing on the edge of one boulder and saw that there was only a 2-3 foot gap to the next boulder with a 50-foot gap. I have jumped over gaps much larger than that in my day and have no qualms about height. But as I was standing there, a thought came to me- “Don’t Jump.” All I could do was smile and obey.

How lucky we are to have a Heavenly Father who loves us and watches over us, who wants to guide us and direct us in everything that we do. How many times has a crisis been averted in direct result of our prayer? How many times have we actually been protected when we casually prayed “to get home safely”? I am so grateful for the Spirit that communicates in our own thoughts in our own way. We are so blessed.

All of this was going through my mind when I fell from 50 feet and hit the rocks below. There was a failure with the anchor at the top of the next route that resulted in my personal anchor device slipping out and letting me fall. The fall happened so fast that I couldn’t comprehend what had happened. I have climbed hundreds of times and I know a hundred people who have each climbed hundreds of times and never once heard of an anchor failing. I love climbing and I know that there are calculated risks. This was not one of those risks.

I laid on the ground with the wind knocked out of me and feet throbbing, I again heard a thought in my mind, “You are going to be ok. You’ve been trained for this, you know what to do.”

I quickly sprang into action. I went to school to be an EMT and had all the medical supplies I needed in my bag to splint my feet and prevent myself from going into shock. I laid there for about an hour while my friends kept me talking and helped me through the pain. We were on top of the mountain with no clue where the nearest hospital was but luckily we had, our friend, Abraham’s number from the night before and we knew we could call him to bring a taxi to the foot of the mountain. But that was still hours away. We had to get down first.

It took nearly 5 hours to get down the rocky trail. It took the three guys’ strength plus my own to pick me up and carry me over the uneven ground and make progress. We moved about 10 feet at a time and drank the little water we had to stay hydrated. We got scraped and burned and cut and ripped. I will forever be in the debt of Aldan, Ryan and Seth for what they did to get me down. There was no way I could have done it myself.

We got to the taxi and made our way to the hospital. I didn’t really have the best tell on time but it felt like about an hour before we made it to the rural hospital. When they transferred me from the car to the gurney, the bed became unhinged and I almost fell right there in the parking lot. I was laid on a hospital bed and the first thing they asked for was money. Boy, did I almost give it to them. This whole time, we were in crisis mode from the top of the mountain to the bottom and I knew if I were to be writhing around and screaming it would just make the ordeal that much more difficult. In my mind, I told myself that I need to swallow the pain and when I got to the hospital, the pain could be managed. The absolute LAST thing I care about was how much it cost. Just FIX my dang feet and THEN we will talk money.

That was all in my head. I knew that if I were to be demanding and rude, that would just annoy the doctors and nurses. The last thing you want when you are in a rural African hospital with both feet broken is to have doctors annoyed with you, so I kept it all in. In my most polite tone possible, I asked, “may I please have some painkillers. Please.” I received a needle to the butt and was told it would take some time to kick in. Two hours later, nothing. Whatever they stuck in my butt was absolutely not working and had absolutely no effect. I was getting ticked. Through clenched teeth, I begged them for some more pain medication and after probably an hour of suppressed screams and twisting their arms, they gave me another shot to the butt. Again, hours after, the drug absolutely did not work. There was nothing I could do but wait it out.

It was a long night, that night. Seth stayed with me the whole night and I did my best to not let him sleep. He was exhausted after a ridiculous day but stayed up to help me the whole time.

I called my parents that night as well. Definitely was not a call they were expecting, but they took it so well and didn’t freak out once.

We left that morning to Accra to wait for our flights. I flew out on Tuesday afternoon to Dubai where I had a 20-hour layover and there was no way I was going to let a little thing like broken feet get in my way of that! Luckily, my friend David, a Nigerian that I met in Ghana had recently moved to Dubai and helped me out with renting a wheelchair and taking me around for the day. I probably got some funny looks as a scruffy white guy in a wheelchair with two poorly made casts on my feet. But I made the most of it and had an awesome day!

After about 46 hours of travel, I made it home to lovely Washington DC where loving family was waiting. I received surgery on both feet the next day and was discharged home the next. One screw in the left foot and three in the right. Going to be messing with metal detectors for the rest of my life! The doctor urged me not to go to Utah for school and I politely declined his advice. When something bad happens in life, you don’t sit down and wait for it to pass and for life to get easier. You take life by the horns and confront it head on. I knew that the Lord would provide for me when I was actively making an effort to progress and make things work. You either progress or you digress and there was no way I was going to digress for three months.

And sure enough, the Lord has in fact provided for my every need since coming out to school. There have been stacks of miracles and I am grateful every day. Here are a few:

·      Aunt Leta was ready to pick me up from the airport and had the most amazing bed waiting for me at her house.

·      I have been planning for the past 6 months to be living with my second cousin Xane who is the most amazing person I know and has been there for anything I could possibly need.

·      Xane had already been living in a ground floor apartment for the past two years so I didn’t have to switch rooms.

·      My Uncle Lance came and built me a wheelchair ramp so I can get in and out of my apartment by myself.

·      The ward I moved into used to be in a building that is not wheelchair accessible and I would have had to be carried up the stairs to sacrament meeting. They changed buildings to an accessible meeting over the summer.

·      My Bishop is a foot and ankle surgeon and knows exactly what I am going through.

·      Cole and I happen to have the same times of classes every day, so it is actually easier for him to pick me up because I can give him free and top-notch parking privileges.

·      Everyone on BYU campus is extremely kind and willing to help me at any time. Every door is opened for me. Crowds are parted. There is always someone willing to give me a push when I need one.

·      So so so many more that have made every day a joy and an adventure.

This whole experience has taught me so much. First, never get seriously hurt in Africa. 10/10 would not recommend. Second, there is so much in this world we can be grateful for! Grateful for life, for family, for friends. Every time you see a shadow means that there is a light shining on the other side. Always look for the light.

I want to thank everyone who has helped me over the past few weeks. I could not have done it all without you.  I most of all want to thank my Heavenly Father for the amazing lives we all live and for all he does to keep us smiling.