“Although I Cannot See the Himalayas, I Will Bring It Back in My Heart.”

“I will see the Himalayas with eyes in my heart. And I bring back the whole Himalayas in my heart.”

It was the 8m high artificial rock climbing facility set at the Gagum Branch School of the Jungang Middle School in Gahung-Ri, Gagum-Myon, Chungju-City, Chungbuk in the afternoon on the 10th. The breath of a student, who was feeling after the hold in lead of the coach, was rough. It took about two minutes for him to touch the top and to come back in sweats. The speed for climbing up and down the vertical rock was fairly good.

“Well done. Your skill is getting better… This climb will be no problem if we reinforce the physical strength.”

The student feels better and is all in smiles because of the praise of the school’s PE teacher Kim Yong-sik. He is a congenital first-degree blind, who cannot see at all, Park Dong-hui (Freshman, St. Mary School, High School Division, Chungju).

The hard training that he is doing is the basic training for climbing the Himalayan Pisan Peak (6091m above sea level) in Nepal this winter. Because the Pisan Peak has steep snow walls and rock walls from the two thirds of the peak, it is known as a dangerous place where a mistake is led to a fall accident.

Mr. Park is challenging the top of the Pisan Peak as a member of the ‘Rookie Expedition to the Himalayas’ led by the teacher Kim. The Expedition includes the world-class climber Um, Hong-Gil and 10 other middle and high school students. They are planning to leave in December 15th and attack the Pisan Peak for a month.

“I applied without hesitation when my teacher asked if I wanted to climb the Himalayas. I might not see the wide view although I reach the top, but I sure like to challenge.”

His father, Park Joo-hui (41. Machinery business) also delightfully agreed. Although he was the oldest of his 3 sons, he wanted to raise Mr. Park, who was born disabled, more strongly.

Until 4th grade, Mr. Park could at least recognize shapes of things, but now he lost his eyesight completely. However, his senses got alive sensitively. He is showing excellent senses in blind-baseball and blind-table tennis, which he must hit the ball by listening the sound only.

The St. Mary School that Mr. Park is attending is a special school for visually impaired managed by a Catholic foundation. Teacher Lee Sung-chul of the school introduced, “Because Mr. Park has such a delightful personality, smile never left his face,” and “He is called ‘the helper’ because he always help the double impaired friends.”

Mr. Park added, “All my friends were jealous when I said I was going to the Himalayas.”

“I would like to get on the plane to the Himalayas. The bright snow capped mountain that I see with eyes in my heart would be even more beautiful.”

straw825@donga.com