It is an example of tenacity, of wanting to get ahead, after overcoming adversity, days of pain, crying and making a decision that meant staying without one of his lower limbs, but that’s how life has been for Nelson Cardonafull of challenges that seem unattainable, but which he has managed to overcome.
Being from Caldas, he knew all the secrets of the paths of ascent towards the Nevado del Ruiz, because at one time he was a ranger of the place. However, fate had something for him, and not very good, really.
(Chilling footballer arrested for driving drunk with his children)
(Piqué retires from Barcelona and professional football after separating from Shakira)
On March 2, 2006, Nelson was walking up a hillside, a site that could be accessed blindfolded, but his trust betrayed him.
A few days before, Cardona was in a place at the level of evil and forgot that these sudden changes in height can harm a person. She took off the rope and stood near an abyss. She suffered dizziness, could not control her body and rolled 18 meters.
He did not lose consciousness. When he fell he didn’t feel any pain, but it was just being woken up and it was excruciating. He suffered serious injuries: double pelvic fracture, loss of teeth, five maxillofacial fractures, his right leg was splintered, and that’s where his ordeal began.
He went from operating room to operating room. She went on like this for several days. She underwent operations 18 times and despite that, her recovery was not the best, the consequences of the blows were very hard.
It seemed impossible for him to go through those moments, but it was his turn and he assumed it. Nelson stood out because he climbed important peaks, such as Everest and Aconcagua, but seeing himself in bed, unable to return to the athlete he was before made him think.
painful decision
His right leg was not working. The treatments she underwent did not give the expected result. That extremity was seven centimeters smaller than the left one and ‘Christ to suffer’ began.
The doctors invaded him with screws. His life had taken a 180 degree turn and he thought even the worst, so much so that climbing the mountains, which was his job, his life, went into the background and several ideas went through his head. the.
“Today I still think the same, that adversity is the best teacher.”
One of them, to amputate the leg. It wasn’t unreasonable to think so, at all. Nelson discussed it with his family, because his life could change and not continue to suffer.
And so he did, after talking to experts and concluding that it was the best decision to do what he was passionate about: climbing, the doctors removed half his leg and he began the process of adapting to a prosthesis.
“Today I still think the same, that adversity is the best teacher. It’s that when you think you’re defeated, that you have no way out, then you have to get up. I learned from that, from those defeats and today I am a man who is not daunted by anything, ”he told EL TIEMPO.
And he added: “We do not know what is going to happen, but we are going to get out of this. The Colombian people are taught to stand up from adversity”.
Nelson Cardona changed his life, but not climbing. He lives in Suesca, Cundinamarca, a place where fans go to climb walls. With his prosthetic scale, he walks, lectures at universities and high-performance teams, and talks to the people who approach him.
“We have to stop and get ahead, failure is the lack of attitude,” he warned, and that was what he put into practice to get ahead.
Perhaps it is thought that with a prosthesis the human being is limited, but no, Nelson is not one of those who stays crying over spilled milk.
When he was three years old after the accident, he reached the summit of the Aconcaguain 2010 climbed el Everest and in 2011 reached the top of the Kilimanjaro, all with the prosthesis, something that fills him more with pride.
“I went up Everest and down it without any problem. I was not the only one to do it with a disability, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, ”he said.
“I give conferences on organizations for companies. I work as a speaker in national and international companies to align strategic plans, leadership and decision making”, he indicated.
Nelson Cardona compares what has happened to him with daily life. He says that climbing mountains is like climbing personal and company goals.
“Overcoming is a theme of the conferences, it is to make people understand how to take the difficulties in opportunitiesall in order to extract the best version of a human being, “he said.
Cardona sometimes returns the film and remembers that accident that could have taken his life, but he changed the ‘chip’ and continues on.
“Sure, sometimes I think about that, but you can’t live in the past, you have to see the day to day with a view to the future. People who have gone through difficult times must be inspiring to many other people. The issue is not the blows, the falls, but the lack of will to get ahead, ”she assured.
Recently he was in Spain, he ran the Catalonia Bike Tace, an amateur mountain biking competition for three days and in Colombia he has participated in the Leyenda de El Dorado, another demanding race.
“To my wife, Adriana Restrepo, He likes sports a lot. It is a great support, it is a great part of the vitality that I have and it gives me a lot of strength and motivation. It’s the company, the support, the intelligence,” he noted.
Nelson has two daughters, Sofía, 20, and Salomé, 30, who is a captain of the army, they are also the impulse, for them she lived, for the two of them she made drastic decisions, such as amputating half her leg.
“Life teaches us that difficulties must be faced, challenged and overcome,” he said.
(The Qatar World Cup already has a champion for ‘The Simpsons’: will they be right again?) (Did the Colombian U-17 team receive pots as a prize? The reality of the gift)
Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of THE TIME
@lisandroabel
#Nelson #Cardona #Colombian #climber #returned #hell