I don't think I will ever forget the trip to Mount Méta. It was an extraordinary experience, unlike anything I had known before. When I talk about it now, I say that I only began to believe such a "mad" undertaking was possible the moment we started climbing the slopes. For someone who cannot walk, ascending unpaved paths in a wheelchair during the first part of the journey felt like a miracle. There was real unity among the group that had decided on this adventure. We were determined, at any cost, to conquer that steep mountainside. In the second, steeper section, my companions took turns every ten meters carrying my "stretcher"—built the day before from poles and rope. The final stretch was actually dangerous. Because of the sharp incline, I kept sliding off the stretcher, and it was not easy to stop and get me back in place.
Being jostled around like that was a hard trial for me—and for them too. Beyond the obvious physical exhaustion, I knew I could do nothing to help my friends. Physically, I felt like dead weight: carried, shaken, tossed in every direction. I'll admit it—a heaviness sat in my heart throughout that climb. But now, every time I think back to those moments, I burst with joy. I see myself again, surrounded by that magnificent landscape, held by my faithful and brave friends.
Every time I think back to those moments, I burst with joy. I see myself again, surrounded by that magnificent landscape, held by my faithful and brave friends.
Every time I think back to those moments, I burst with joy. I see myself again, surrounded by that magnificent landscape, held by my faithful and brave friends.This experience was inseparable from what we lived through during the camping trip at Alfedena. I believe that without that context—that deep mingling of joy and suffering—an adventure like Méta would never have been possible. The ones who stayed behind at camp were united with us in spirit as we climbed.
I use this article to thank them all once more and to tell them that through this unusual experience, something was born between us that will bind us forever.
Read also: No One Thought Patrick Would Join the Trip by Mariangela Bertolini
