Mit - Index

Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_05_št.10 - Index

(Lively and determined) No, no! I know that life goes on and
nobody on the other side of the Earth will cry just because I'm
having it bad. I'm very realistic. I don't spend too much thought
on my situation, because it is what it is. For me, it's important
that I handle things as they come along, that I spend every day
positively: I know how to help other disabled people; they call
me, even in the middle of the night, when the depression is at its
worst, I tell them a joke and they feel better.
I never allowed myself any self-pity: immediately when I came
home from rehabilitation I made contact with my friends, and I
lived normally like they did: if there was a party, we went; if there
was a movie, we went as well − wherever they went, I went! I
make friends easily, and if you don't lock yourself inside, you can
live with your disability much more easily and better.
WHAT ABOuT WORk, EMPLOYMENT,
LOvE?
Three years after the accident, I retired. They couldn’t adapt the
working environment to my disability. It was terrible in those
days: no help for the disabled, no access slopes, no special toilets.
Love, well…at the Institute for rehabilitation I met Aleksandra,
my future wife, and we have a daughter who is now thirtythree.
Yes, we lived together for quite a few years, but accidents
happen all the time: at our holiday home she fell over a scarp,
damaged her brain, and fell into a coma which lasted for almost
seven years. Then she died.
BuT EvEN THEN, YOu dIdN’T GIvE uP −
LIFE BROuGHT YOu A NEW FRIENdSHIP.
Yes - Marija. We used to go to school together; we come from the
same town; we danced in the same folk dance group, and then
we lost touch for quite a few years. But incidentally, because of a
book Ivan Sivec wrote about my life, we found each other again.
She saw a commercial for a book in a magazine, made the effort
to look for the right phone number and called me (laughs). I used
to visit my mother in my home town a lot, so I always stopped
by at Marija's, and so it began. We have been together for five
years now. My life revolves so quickly, everything is happening so
quickly, I don't even notice I'm getting old (laughter).
BuT A LOT HAS HAPPENEd IN YOuR
LIFE duRING ALL THESE YEARS − YOuR
CLIMBING ANd YOuR SuCCESS.
True! My daughter was ten years old when, after a meeting with
my friend Milan Cesar, I decided to start climbing. I new he was
climber, so I asked him whether I could accompany him on Triglav.
He said no problem, we tried, and so it began.
WELL, I’M SuRE IT WASN’T THAT EASY:
YOu HAd TO BuILd uP STRENGTH, FINd
EQuIPMENT…
I had enough strength - I drove my wheelchair everyday. I climbed
roofs and set up antennas. I was slating roofs − I did a lot of things
as a disabled person. I can still climb a ladder and pick cherries
by myself. So, Milan and I decided to make a test expedition on
Ojstrica. He said if I could manage Ojstrica, Triglav wouldn't be
a problem. Well, ten days after this test (yes, I climbed Ojstrica
without any problems) we went on Triglav and returned from the
mountain in four days. We immediately made a deal to climb a
thousand meters higher next year.
33
P E o P L E
dO YOu NEEd ANY SPECIAL EQuIPMENT
FOR WALkING ON YOuR HANdS,
PROBABLY GLOvES FOR A FIRM GRIP
ANd TO PREvENT INJuRIES TO YOuR
HANdS?
Only gloves, because of rocks and stone.
SO SIMPLE? HOW ABOuT CIGARETTES?
I CAN SEE THAT YOu SMOkE. dOES
dIMINISHEd LuNG CAPACITY HAvE ANY
EFFECT ON YOuR CLIMBING?
(Smiles). I have a few photographs of really good climbers who
light a cigarette on top of every mountain, if only there is enough
oxygen for a lighter to work.
ANd OXYGEN WAS SOMETIMES IN SHORT
SuPPLY WHEN YOu CLIMBEd THE
HIGHEST MOuNTAINS IN THE WORLd,
RIGHT?
True. The following year, after Triglav, we went a thousand
meters higher, on Grossglockner. That was some achievement,
because there were winter conditions on the mountain, even
though we climbed it in the summer: snow, rain, wind. It was
cold and foggy, and water was running under the tent when we
spent the night under the south side − terrible. That is when I did
ask myself what I was doing there…But stubborn as I am, I went
to the top. Of course, we immediately decided to go a thousand
metres higher next year.
MONT BLANC? I ASSuME YOu HAd
BETTER EQuIPMENT ANd A BIGGER
TEAM?
Yes, a bigger team. I started thinking about better, waterproof
equipment in those harsh conditions on Grossglockner − but
there wasn't enough money. So I went looking for sponsors and
found them.
dId YOu dO ALL THIS WORk BY
YOuRSELF?
I did everything: logistics, plans, sponsors, administration, not
to mention I had to train and prepare myself. Every morning I
drove 20 kilometres on my wheelchair, came home, sat in the car
and drove to Zabukovica, climbed the little hill at Bukovica (840
metres), came home…Yes, it was all done on hands (smiles). Then
the local people found out about me and left me some blueberry
brandy on the summit. That was my routine for two months: it's
all very easy for me today, really…
WHAT ABOuT MONT BLANC, WAS THAT
EASY AS WELL?
Nothing special (determined). We took a rack railway to a certain
height, no point in walking on your hands up the road − but
from then on, yes! There were some rock overhangs, and I had
to try harder to climb them, and we had a storm and some fog,
but after two days it cleared up and we continued, reached
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