Doctors told Owen that he needs to stop climbing. I'm going to tell you why they're wrong.
There are many ways to describe Owen Graham; 19 years young; a college
sophomore; from a good family; raised in Texas. He's the type a daughter
would bring home to mom (ladies...), and the type of man who changes
people's lives for the better. These are just several of many adjectives
and life experiences which have helped shape Owen, though they don't
truly tell his story.
Two weeks ago, he contacted me
regarding training for the Youth World's Championship in Singapore; he
won Youth Nationals this year and had self-awareness enough not to ride
on the coattails of his victory. He saw the need for Power. With most
pro climbers I train the overall story is largely the same: great
people, driven, motivated, and intensely competitive. With Owen, the
story began to twist. A little more quiet, a little less intense, and a
little quicker to please. He's not only a great competitor, he's polite
and kind; if someone approaches him while training, he has the composure
to reply with a smile and be courteous. He's easy to befriend. Later he
even ridiculed me for "being old" or "an awful belayer" and "a worse
trainer". I typically followed weak insults with stoic resolve and
professionalism--just kidding, I called him poop names.
I tend
to study my athletes. Not in the scientific sense, more, how to connect
and understand them as people in order to enrich their individual
experience. Knowing how they think, and what they are feeling (yes, I am
telepathic) is as much a part of the training as the actual workouts.
Owen proved harder to understand. He's laid back and wicked chill;
seemingly without a care in the world. That is, until he started talking
with me, not at me (as people often do). Owen explained why he was here
at Movement Climbing and Fitness training with this 'Kris Peters' who
he heard only heard about.
Owen suffers from extreme tendonitis
and Carp-Syndrome. It is a debilitating condition that can cause Owen
such discomfort that he can barely open his arms. Doctors have told him
that he needs his arm cut wide open in order to perform a surgery that
has a 40-50% chance of success. One day I was warming Owen up on a 5.11d
and his forearms blew up. Naturally I was alarmed, but was sadly
ignorant of the cause and ramifications--Owen insisted that we keep
climbing, and so we did. When Owen fell on a 5.12d I knew there was a
real problem. When I walked up to Owen he was in serious pain. He
couldn't untie his rope because he couldn't close his hands properly. He
was in more mental pain than physical though. For him, not continuing
with the training that day was tantamount to giving up entirely, but the
pain in his face was telling, and I made him stop.
Sitting there by the wall, Owen explained his true motivation for representing
USA in Singapore. It wasn't for a money, girls, or fame--it was for a
son a mother had lost. Owen met a woman who's son was a committed rock
climber and was tragically killed in a accident. Owen wanted to help in
anyway he could, but what could this 19 year old possibly do to help? He
responded by stepping up to the plate by putting the son's initials on
his USA jersey. Every time he competes, they're with him, all the way.
They've come to mean more than just a few letters, they're the fuel
which drives Owen to reach ever higher in competitions and in life. Even
if it brings the smallest comfort to a mom knowing that he's
remembered, and is making a difference in the sport he loved, it'll be
worth it a thousand times over.
It doesn't matter if someone
is a Pro football player, basketball player, or rock climber--they all
have fans. They all have someone looking up to them for direction. Owen
Graham gets it. I just hope the rest of us can too. If you are a
sponsored Prana, North Face, or Mountain Hardware athlete there are
people out there who look to you as a hero and role model. You have the
chance to affect them positively through kindness, success, and
self-awareness. Find those people you can help, and do so.
Maybe while climbing in Singapore fighting through the excruciating pain
in his arms, he'll remember all those training sessions, those doctors,
those initials, and he'll climb just a little higher. Maybe a little
higher than any one else. Maybe, just a little higher than he thought was
possible...
Wouldn't that be something to see.
