A Coronado resident — seeking to defy the odds — is training to become the first person with cerebral palsy to climb El Capitan at Yosemite National Park, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

If he succeeds, it could give hope to many that wish to do great things after a traumatic brain injury.

Coronado resident wants to make history despite brain injury.

When two friends — one with paraplegia, anoher with quadriplegia — climbed El Capitan, a 41-year-old man wondered if he could duplicate their achievement.  He has cerebral palsy, a brain ailment which causes permanent disorders in the parts of the brain that control movement and posture.

“If they can do it, I can do it,” he told the San Diego Union Tribune.

He has been training at the Family Gym in Coronado for a historic climb he hopes to do during the last week of the summer in 2010.  To climb the 3,000-foot El Capitan mountain, he will need to do one pull-up at a time.  Imagine how hard that is to do for 400-450 feet per day.  He will have usual climbing gear — ropes and bolts — along with a special climbing apparatus he designed himself.

In addition to what this means to him personally, his climb will also serve as a fundraiser for his foundation, which provided scholarships for children with brain injuries like cerebral palsy or other brain damage to attend Camp Nejedly, which is located northwest of Lake Tahoe, a camp that wouldn’t even exist if not for this foundation (he attended a camp like that when he was nine.)  So far, it has raised $111,000 in two years.

He wants to send a simple message to those who are disabled from brain injuries and other permanent physical disabilities.

“Life is not over because you’re in a chair.  There’s so much more you can do,” he said.  “You’re in a chair now.  Move and create a new life for yourself.”

Kudos to this man from our brain injury lawyers in San Diego.  Stories like his show that just because you have a permanent brain injury like cerebral palsy, your life isn’t over, it’s only changing.

Call us now at 1-858-551-2090 for a FREE consultation with an experienced San Diego brain injury attorney or click here to submit your case for a FREE online review.