Cesaltina da Cunha

“On 18 May 2009 I was in a body bag on the way to the morgue having been pronounced dead at the scene of a car accident by paramedics. I was 48. Somehow I lived to tell the tale, but my injuries were a fractured pelvis in four places on the right, a detached left hip joint (which remains detached so

I have very little support on that side), four broken ribs, a punctured lung and my face cut from cheek to ear. I lay in ICU with little chance of survival from the internal injuries. I spent 35 days in hospital waiting for my body to heal and my bones to fuse. During that time I endured physical pain that made me I wish I had died. Six months of rehab therapy followed, and nine months later I could shuffle tiny steps at a tortoise pace. A previous ballet dancer, martial artist, horse rider and trail runner I was left with one leg shorter than the other, a pelvis and rib cage that did not align, scarring on my lung and a scarred face. I was told I’d never do any of those things again and I’d live with pain to my end. I set out to defy the doctors, and started doing everything I was not meant to do. To my list I added rock climbing, abseiling and climbing to mountain summits. I do it all under great physical pain, but pain has become my companion, my friend, and I cherish the discomfort and often agony as a victory. I wear my scars, push myself beyond my comfort zones and embrace every new experience knowing that I am stronger than what happened to me. As I head towards my 60th next year I can’t wait for new challenges that may lie in wait. I’ve not quite made it to one Everest this year, but in one huge 19-day effort, I climbed Latrigg 18 times in my 2-hour break while working as a carer, to get fit enough to climb Skiddaw Little Man for my son’s 40th birthday. It gained me 7830m of ascent.”

WINS: Marmot

Kompressor 16 pack