Howard Morgan

I've aspired since graduate school in the 1980s to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro - at 19,431 feet - the tallest in Africa. I have a short "bucket list" and it was a prominent goal. As I trained for the climb this Spring, subsequent to being tossed around in the saddle on a horse trail ride with my family a few months earlier, pain started to develop in my lower back.

I had booked the trip a year ago, as an opportune Alumni trip from my grad school, my middle son was wrapping a year of work in Africa, and my wife and 2 other children were keen and available. I was going to do whatever it took to make the climb.

Only 3 weeks before departure, the pain grew intense and I reached out to HSS. From the initial visit to spinal injections, I went from not being able to walk up the stairs of my house to being good to go. 6 nights of climbing, and the five of us made the summit! In a group of 14, only half of us made it to the top .... THANK YOU HSS!!