A vet decided that nothing was going to stop him from taking his fellow marine hiking to the top of a mountain in Utah, even as one of the men had no legs from an explosives injury in Afghanistan.
John Nelson carried his fellow special ops veteran friend John Blanks up 14.3 miles of steep rugged terrain so that they both could see the view from the top of the mountain.
“We shared a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get to where we were, and it was all worth it,” Blank said.
Other hikers who saw Nelson with 135-pound Blank on his back were in awe seeing them descent back down the mountain from their hike.
“If that’s what they’re doing for recreation, imagine those guys on the battlefield,” Phil Casper said.
News Channel KTSU says that the two have future plans to hike Mt. Whitney in California, which is the tallest mountain in the state at over 14,500 feet.
“Not only have I lived through this, but we’re also special operations guys we can do anything, we can maybe instill that mindset into other people,” Blank said.