UNM alumni hike tallest peaks in Ecuador to make prosthetic care more accessible

Four New Mexicans climbed some of Latin America's tallest peaks for a good cause last month.

Three University of New Mexico graduates - Kyle Stepp, Sean O'Neill, and Jacob Fox - climbed Cayambe, a nearly 19,000-foot glacier volcano in Ecuador, to raise awareness and make prosthetic care more accessible in other countries. Allison Gordon, who did her medical residency at UNMH, hiked Chimborazo in Ecuador standing at more than 20,000 feet tall.

"We all have four very different careers and backgrounds, but we believe mobility is a human right and should be accessible to everybody," Stepp said. "As a person with limb loss, it's an honor to have fellow New Mexicans and allies to the disability community join me to take on the highest summits in Ecuador and champion disability rights together."

"It's one of those proud New Mexican moments where there are people in our community and our state working on these kinds of issues, doing our best, and putting our energy where we can make the biggest difference," O'Neill said.

According to the World Health Organization, it's estimated only 1 in 10 people in need have access to assistive products, like prostheses and orthoses, because of cost, lack of awareness, policy, and financing. Ecuador is no different. Stepp says the country is not able to serve or provide for people with limb loss or limb difference high-quality prosthetic care. That's why The Range of Motion Project (ROMP), a non-profit that serves Guatemala, Ecuador, and other rural communities throughout the Amazon, started a hike 10 years ago on Cayambe and Cotopaxi, two of the highest summits in Ecuador, to raise awareness and funds for their mission. Over the years, they have invited a team of athletes living with a disability, many amputees or allies, and advocates of the disabled community to one of the highest summits and galiver-covered volcanos in Ecuador, all standing over 18,000-20,000 feet.

"The purpose of that climb was to show what is possible when you have access and to raise funds to ensure that individuals with limb loss in Latin America can access the prosthetic care they need to climb their "mountain". Stepp said.

This year, for the 10^th anniversary, rather than climbing one mountain, ROMP had three separate teams attempt the three highest summits in Ecuador: Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Cayambe.

"Our time in Ecuador was special. On our first day in Ecuador, before the climb started, ROMP was in the process of delivering 50 individuals their prosthetics, and it put back into perspective why the work we are doing is so important. Seeing amputees walk for the first time and run for the first time reminds you why access to prosthetics is essential and life-changing," Stepp said. "You see all of them light up with pure excitement and gratitude because they have their mobility back, and their mobility is their freedom, the ability to go back to work, continue their education."

During the hike in Oct., Stepp said his team on Cayambe made it to around 17,000 feet before turning around due to high avalanche risk. While Stepp said he was rocked by altitude sickness earlier in the week, a snowball fight ensued before they hiked back down, making for an unforgettable trip. "I'll take a snowball fight at 17,000 feet with pure stoke and gratitude over any summit," Stepp said. "The idea of play and freedom is what mobility is all about. It was really special."

The three teams and 40 participants collectively raised more than $350,000 this year towards providing care and access to prosthetics for the most underrepresented communities in Latin America. ROMP has raised nearly $1 million over the last decade since the climb started.

For Stepp, who graduated from UNM in 2016 with a bachelor's in Organizational Communication and Management, the hike was much more than a climb. In 2008 at the age of 14, he was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer. Doctors opted to do a surgery called limb salvage to preserve his leg where they removed his Femur, Knee, and Tibia replacing them with stainless steel which left Stepp with chronic pain. As a Freshman in High School, he would spend the next three and a half years in and out of UNM's Children's Hospital, doing 18 rounds of chemotherapy, almost 72 specialized shots to support the chemo treatment, and 14 surgeries.

"There were nine kids who became my best friends through treatment, when you're spending hours, days, months, weeks in the hospital, your best friends are your fellow peers fighting alongside you," Stepp said. "Unfortunately, the nine I got super close with didn't survive. That's why I do what I do; I want to honor them through my philanthropy, advocacy, and impact in sport."

In 2020, while downhill mountain biking in Angel Fire, Stepp's bike tire slipped, and he crashed into a tree, permanently damaging exactly where the metal rods were implanted. He was flown to UNMH where doctors amputated his leg above the knee.

"It was a weird feeling. As I was lying on the mountain after my crash, I knew freedom was about to start. For 12 years, I lived with pain and fear and doubts surrounding a future possible amputation, but deep down, I knew I was going to be okay," he said.

During his journey, Stepp realized firsthand the lack of resources for people with limb loss, especially when it comes to proper insurance coverage. Keep in mind that every prosthetic is customized. "Having to fight for access to the proper prosthetic device I needed just to go to work, the grocery store, and to get through my everyday life was half the battle," he said. "If you want to be physically active or access other functions of mobility outside of walking, those activity-specific prosthetic devices are deemed not medically necessary and are not covered by insurance."

That is why Stepp helped build a national advocacy initiative alongside his friend and fellow amputee Nicole Ver Kuilen called So Every BODY Can Move, which aims to require insurance companies to cover prosthetics and orthotics for physical activity through legislative change. He says New Mexico was the first state in the country to create insurance coverage for all ages. So Every BODY Can Move has now changed the law in eight states in two years through the leadership of local advocates with disabilities nationwide. Stepp currently serves alongside Nicole and leads Strategic Partnerships.

Stepp has been a pillar in the local community for more than a decade, starting LoboTHON, UNM's largest student-run philanthropy, and now across the country.

Stepp competed in his first world championship for triathlon just a week after his hike in Ecuador where he received 6th place representing Team USA. He's now on his next path to represent Team USA at the L.A. 28 Paralympic Games, racing on the world circuit as an elite para triathlete.

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