On June 24, 2016, Kendyl Wilcox, 21, and Andrew Herring, 22, were climbing in Devil鈥檚 Lake State Park in Wisconsin. Herring was mentoring Wilcox in trad climbing.听It was the second day of their trip, and Wilcox had felt confident and comfortable on every pitch. Around midday听she tied in at the base of a 5.8 route called Barndoor. Wilcox casually climbed the first 15 feet of featured, low-angle quartzite听to a walkable ledge without placing any protection. From her stance on the ledge, she set a nut in a听hand crack above her head and worked her way upward. The summer heat was sweltering, the rock听slippery, and the moves began feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

鈥淭he crack started thinning out in a way that, at the time, I didn鈥檛 know how to climb,鈥� Wilcox said.

She got her hands crossed up in a sequence that she couldn鈥檛 reverse. Herring,听belaying 30 feet below,听could see that she was panicked and prepared himself to catch a fall.

鈥淚 think my feet slipped, and I don鈥檛 really remember anything after that,鈥� Wilcox said. She swung down听and hit the wall just above the ledge, but the nut that was holding her fall popped out of the crack. She tipped over backwards, plummeting headfirst toward the ground, falling 30 feet without a helmet on.

鈥淚 remember stretching out my arms, and we both hit the ground,鈥� Herring said. 鈥淚 immediately tried to stabilize her head as much as I could and started screaming for help. I could feel blood running down my arm.鈥�

A group of teenagers hiking on top of the cliff heard Herring鈥檚 shouts and ran to the road to call 911. Wilcox was in and out of consciousness. When Herring asked her who the president was, she responded, 鈥淩onald Reagan.鈥� Forty minutes after the accident, first responders were听on the scene, and an hour after that, Wilcox was听transported听by helicopter to the hospital at the听University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Herring gathered up their bloodied belongings, drove back to their campsite to clean himself up, and called Wilcox鈥檚 family members to听tell them what had happened. He spent the next two days sitting at her bedside听in the hospital, listening to monitor blips, taking notes as doctors explained her injuries, and continually retelling the story to his injured partner, who would periodically wake up and not know where she was or what had happened.

Wilcox had a hole in her right knee the size of a quarter, a fractured skull, and swelling in the brain that was so severe it caused damage to her pituitary gland, which regulates nutrients to the body. But after two days, she听stabilized and was discharged from the hospital and went to stay with family near Ann Arbor. However, because of the damage to her pituitary gland, her sodium levels dropped to a lethally low level after another two days, and she became incoherent and unable to walk. Wilcox was admitted to the ICU at the University of Michigan Hospital on June 28. After five days, she came to, her condition听improved, and she听was moved out of the ICU. Finally, on July 4, she was discharged from the hospital.

It took Wilcox two months to fully recover from her physical injuries, but she suffered from severe headaches every day for the next six months. Her听long- and short-term memory loss proved to be the worst of the damage, and it was听nearly a year before her memory returned to normal.

Yet despite the physical, mental, and emotional trauma caused by the accident at Devil鈥檚 Lake, both Wilcox and Herring were climbing听outside again that autumn.

国产吃瓜黑料 sports have a storied reputation for killing听or severely injuring their practitioners. But听people continually come back to the activity that put them in touch with their mortality. For Wilcox and Herring, climbing again听was never in doubt. However, returning to a听sport after a serious accident usually requires an athlete to adapt their identity.

In a 2018 study of skiers and snowboarders who took up their sport again after suffering spinal-cord injuries, Andrew Stephens, then a graduate student at Prescott College in Arizona, observed that 听but rather an evolving perception. Subjects for his study came from the High Fives Foundation, a nonprofit organization in California that supports athletes suffering from traumatic spine and brain injuries. The 28 participants Stephens looked at overcame psychological barriers of these life-altering accidents by redefining and reintegrating themselves into the outdoor community as adaptive athletes.

For most participants, the听biggest hurdle was accepting their听new best,听according to听Stephens, who is now the school and community-groups manager for , an outdoor-education organization. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so important not to compare prior life to life now. It鈥檚 recognizing that there is a new norm and accepting that,鈥澨齋tephens said.听Learning from the events that took place, especially if the accident was the result of an individual鈥檚 mistakes, and adapting behaviors are听other aspects crucial to a person鈥檚 psychological recovery.

鈥淚 felt a lot of humility about how great I thought I was at rock climbing. Falling hurt my pride听and still does,鈥� Wilcox said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e learned this lesson in a hard way, and I鈥檓 not going to let it go to waste. I鈥檓 going to continue to rock-climb and make myself a better and safer climber.鈥�

Trauma-inducing experiences like accidents in the mountains can trigger anxiety or flashbacks associated with the events, symptoms typically associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Even thinking about the activity that injured a person can stir up those fears. That said, returning to outdoor sports can also help accident victims overcome the psychological fallout resulting from their ordeal.

鈥淵ou know, quitting听crossed my mind,鈥� said Herring. 鈥淏ut whenever it would, it was followed by, Well, if you stop climbing, then you let this thing win. You let this traumatic event beat you.鈥澨鼺or athletes recovering from a serious injury, going back to the sport and having a safe day in the mountains helps shed the anxiety associated with it.

Wilderness and are becoming common methods used to treat a variety of mental and physical health conditions, including acute stress disorders. According to a 2015 study from the University of New Hampshire on the effects of and coping skills,听鈥淚n adventure therapy the novel setting or experience makes an environment rich for assessment opportunities and the positive use of eustress听supports the belief that change occurs when people are placed outside of their comfort zone.鈥澨齀n other words, outdoor sports can听have a healing effect on patients, helping an individual learn to manage a moderate to normal level of stress. Just being in nature can improve a person鈥檚 overall well-being.

Wilcox, Herring, and many of the athletes in Stephens鈥檚 research听felt that climbing or skiing again was a cornerstone of their psychological recovery. They reexamined and redefined themselves as athletes听and used听their evaluation听as a way to come to terms with the mistakes that led to the accidents,听vowing to be safer, more prepared, and more present while in the mountains. By returning to their听sports, they also proved to themselves that they are still capable athletes, maintaining that integral aspect of their identities.

鈥淭he simplicity in that moment, when you鈥檙e up on lead and all you have to do is just climb, that is why I went back,鈥� said Herring. 鈥淎ll I have to focus on is this, not on all these worries and fears and anxiety and triggering thoughts and trauma鈥攁ll you have to do is just climb. That鈥檚 the way to recover, to be back and understand why you love it in the first place.鈥�

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Most 16-year-olds have not traveled to over 20 countries and听all seven continents, skied in Antarctica, climbed Kilimanjaro, summited peaks in Peru and Nepal, been to Mount Everest Base Camp, received a grant from the American Alpine Club, founded a nonprofit, or spearheaded six humanitarian expeditions to remote corners of the globe. Most 16-year-olds are not .

Since Lilliana听was in kindergarten, she鈥檇听been telling her father, Mike Libecki鈥攁n accomplished mountaineer, expeditionist, and National Geographic Explorer鈥攖hat she wanted to ski with penguins. Once Lilliana turned nine, Mike decided it was time they start training. Together, near their home in Utah, the father-daughter duo practiced backcountry skiing and avalanche and crevasse training. When she was 11, they went on a . 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big deal,鈥� says听her father. 鈥淪ixty-mile-an-hour winds, crevasses, roped up, harness, real deal鈥攏ot just dad-daughter, but she has to be a partner out there.鈥澨�

Mike has been on 87 expeditions and counting to more than 100 countries, bagging first ascents of mountains in exotic locations, often solo. Those experiences as an explorer and mountaineer shape his model for parenting. 鈥淓verything that goes into the equation of an expedition鈥攖he planning, the preparation, the persistence, the discipline鈥攖hat relates to every part of life,鈥� says听Mike. Most of all, he听wanted his life to serve as an example for his daughter to pursue her passions.

And she found her passion on an expedition to Tanzania in 2015, when she was 12. After summiting Kilimanjaro, Lilliana, her dad, and the rest of the team worked on a give-back project for rural communities in Boma Ng鈥檕mbe, Tanzania. They helped build two schools, two churches, and an orphanage and provided shoes and socks, solar power, and computers. The experience was moving for Lilliana, and she wanted to do more.听听

When they returned stateside, Mike created a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, with Lilliana as the president, Mike as vice president, and Lilliana鈥檚 grandmother, aunt, and uncles as board members. was born.听鈥淛oyineering is the act of bringing joy to our Mother Earth in all possible ways,鈥� says听Lilliana.听

Since its founding, the fund has raised more than听$500,000 for听its projects. The organization raises money through donations, grant applications, and sponsorships from companies like Clif Bar, Dell Computers, GoalZero, and more.听

The Libecki family, along with a crew from sponsoring companies, ventures to underserved, remote communities to provide basic necessities that much of the world takes for granted鈥攕hoes, socks, clean water, electricity, and education.听鈥淚 know I may not be able to make the biggest difference in the world and change the world,鈥� says听Lilliana, 鈥渂ut I might be able to change their 飞辞谤濒诲.鈥�

A key component of the Joyineering Fund is sustainability, giving people the tools and knowledge to continue the work. In the summer of 2018, a group from the organization听traveled to Jhamtse Gatsal, a remote community in Arunachal听Pradesh, India. It听installed solar panels and lighting in the school buildings and provided computers and an internet connection for 90 orphaned children who live there. It was perhaps the fund鈥檚 most impactful expedition to date. Fourteen of the students there have since gone on to university鈥攖he first ever from the community to do so. For those kids, internet听access and computer literacy were听the difference that helped them earn their way to higher education.

The Joyineering Fund has carried out one major humanitarian project per year: in Solukhumbu, Nepal, in 2016; Huaraz, Peru, in 2017; and Jhamtse Gatsal听in 2018. Its current project is on the Philippine听island of Palawan. Two new schools are currently being built there by locals, facilitated and funded by the Joyineers. The Libeckis are traveling to Palawan this summer to install solar panels and computer labs. As the organization听grows in resources and experience, Lilliana hopes to fund two undertakings each year, already eyeing projects in Ecuador, Guatemala, Lebanon, and Greenland.听

The Libeckis听always incorporate a secondary adventure component to their work. On the Nepal expedition, after the humanitarian work, they听summited 18,500-foot Kala Patar. In Peru, they scaled 18,100-foot Mount Ishinca. In India, they trekked through peaks on the edge of the Himalayas. And in the Philippines, they听have their听sights set on Mount Cleopatra.

Looking ahead, Lilliana wants 鈥渢o continue to do trips听and Joyineering and going to remote locations in the world听and help out as much as I can.鈥� Her hope is that these efforts will also make it completely ordinary for people to ask themselves, 鈥淗ow can I do more?鈥�

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