Until There’s a Cure, We Climb – David Fortanbary Takes Commitment to a Whole New Level

If you ask him, David Fortanbary has always been an “outdoorsy person,” and when you talk to him, you can hear his ambition and zest for life ringing loud and clear. Couple those things with the impact arthritis has had on his immediate family, and you’ll understand the makings of one of our most passionate volunteers.

David is all too familiar with just how severe arthritis can be. His father passed away in 2013 due to complications from arthritis. As David recalls, “He got a hip replacement that went bad because of progressive arthritis. When he went back in for a revision procedure, he didn’t make it out of surgery.”

While the loss was obviously a significant and devastating one for David and his family, he took it as an opportunity to make an equally significant commitment to his father’s legacy and the arthritis community as a whole.

“I wanted to do something that spotlighted the idea of overcoming physical challenges. All too often we take for granted the physical toll arthritis takes on individuals who have this disease,” says David. “There are tons of walks out there, but I wanted to climb. What better symbol could there be than reaching the summit of one of the tallest mountains in North America?”

On May 17, 2015, the day David had scheduled for his first climb (to the top of Mount Rainier), his mother passed away. Again, a significant and overwhelming loss, but David took the loss as an opportunity to redouble his efforts.

他将这次攀登推迟到2016年6月3日至7日，以便有时间训练、筹集资金，并提高人们对他的努力和关节炎的认识。

“I’m going to turn this into a worldwide arthritis campaign – Climb for Arthritis. After I’ve conquered Ranier, I’m going to go to Denali. My motto is: Until there’s a cure, we climb.”

Although he’s been training for a year, David has no professional climbing experience. He’s just a “regular outdoorsy guy” with a legacy to honor and a passion for progress.

“Imagine if we have very skilled and well-known climbers do some of the more significant summits like Mt. Everest or Mt. Fuji. There are so many things we can do to bring awareness around this,” he says.

David has a passion for helping the Arthritis Foundation and the arthritis community nationwide. But todayhe needs your help. He is self-funding his climb, with 100 percent of what he raises being donated to the Arthritis Foundation in support of our ongoing efforts to provide local community support to our constituents and fund research that will ultimately lead to a cure.

You can support David and his goal to raise $10,000 bydonating to his Climb For Arthritis page.

正是因为像大卫这样不知疲倦、充满激情的志愿者，我们才能继续推动我们的使命，为5000多万关节炎患者提供服务。2022足球世界杯比赛回看

Stay tuned for updates on David’s efforts. We will track his progress as he goes!

UPDATE – David Has Reached the 10,000 ft mark in his Mt. Ranier climb!