"One Breath at a Time" by Samantha Rick
As a child I was always quite active. Although I didn’t participate in team sports, I thrived on individual activities and pushed what I thought to be my limits based on what Doctors had told me. Being on a bike was always a passion for me, along with climbing. Although I didn’t start my rock climbing journey on rocks, trees were where I spent a lot of my time as a child. The catalyst for where I am today with these sports stemmed from meeting my significant other while in college. He was obsessed with rock climbing at the time and our first date included climbing on a stone building down at the local beach. Needless to say, Wisconsin has quite limited topography so upon graduation, we moved from Wisconsin to California. We soon realized our new environment was well-accommodated to our love of being outside, climbing, camping and eventually mountain biking. While we would work in the summer months, we spent our winters camping and climbing in Joshua Tree, Red Rocks Canyon, Bishop, and even Thailand. Being in our 20’s, this lifestyle was very fitting and an obvious way to absorb all that we could of the climbing world.
Before my lung transplants, having CF impacted every way in which I interacted with climbing. My muscles would seize up due to lack of oxygen. I would have to leave the crag at least a half hour earlier than my friends so I could get a head start walking out before they inevitably caught up with me. Additionally, making sure I’m putting more calories in than I’m burning on the rock or just by breathing. At times there was constant worry that if I got an infection, could the nearby hospital help me? Do I have enough medications to get me through each trip? There were even a couple times when we had to call a trip and go home early so I could get IV antibiotics. There were times when I would climb with oxygen but by the end of 2009, at the age of 29, my presence on these trips was reduced to taking photos as I couldn’t keep up anymore.
It wasn’t until my early 30’s, after my first double lung transplant, that I took up mountain biking. I have always enjoyed being on a bike; however, experiencing it in this way was captivating. I realized quickly that I really like going fast and it tested me not only physically but mentally. I’m getting to experience the outside world so differently and now I have this other amazing connection with where I live. After going through chronic rejection in 2016 and receiving a second double lung transplant, I kept my bike in my hospital room to motivate me while I recovered. I yearned for the days I’d be able to ride again and after being bedridden for three months in the hospital, I knew I was getting closer to being back outside in the world that I belonged in. Since then, I have been focusing mostly on biking until recently getting back into climbing. There is a balance between the two now. I feel fortunate to still be here to continue exploring, having experiences, and making more memories.
Not only has climbing and biking taken me to places I never would have known about or seen otherwise, but it has shaped the way I connect with my environment and the people in it. Being in a community of like-minded people that not only want to go and enjoy the wild places we live in but are also stewards and advocates of those places, gives great value to my life. I honestly believe that if I didn’t have climbing and biking as an outlet throughout all these years, I would not still be here. Overcoming all that extra concern and vigilance is what added to the excitement. I know deep down inside, these experiences are keeping me alive longer than if I wasn’t having them at all. These activities, among others, keep me strong, breathing deeply, motivated, happy, and most of all connected.