Philanthropic Passions - Skydive Mount Everest with Handi-Capable International

Passion Before Paycheck is pumped up to add this new part to our journey.  We have decided to take on support of people’s passions on a philanthropic level.  We will choose and support a very few people, teams, ideas and thoughts. We will call the new section Philanthropic Passions I am inspired so much by people that think bigger and braver than most can ever fathom. 

Dwight and I had one of those first time meetings that could have come and gone with no meaning…  We met at our local skydive dropzone and he actually thought I was someone else.  Instead of saying, “I am not the person you think I am”.  I started up a conversation thinking the whole time that there was a reason I was to meet Dwight. Nearly a year later I pulled his card from my camera case and thought of him.  He had all the right criteria to inspire.  A few weeks later I launched Passion Before Paycheck and a week after that here we are….including him on our first Philanthropic Passion entry. 

Read below and you will see what I mean…

My name is Dwight Steyn.  In February of 1990, at the age of 16.   I was blessed in an unusual way when I made a split second decision and saved a 7 year old girl’s life in a car accident.  However, in the process I lost my left leg below the knee and experienced a term of mortality in the hospital.   This day would prove to be one of the best days in my life. 

That day inspired me to complete many milestones and events that I probably would not have been driven to do had the accident not happened. Within 12 months of leaving the hospital I began riding bareback bucking horses in the rodeo for 3 years. Each year I went to the National Finals and placed in the top 12 of my division. 

After rodeo I began skydiving, rock climbing, scuba diving, climbing Colorado’s 14,000 foot mountains (many of them winter assents), and I obtained my pilots license.

I am also fortunate to be the father of 2 wonderful children who inspire me every day.  That inspiration drives me to help them realize they can do anything in this world that they want.  All we have to do is dream.   

In early 2007, I founded an organization called Handi-Capable International as a means to introduce terminally ill, mentally and physically handicapped and psychologically challenged people to a world of skydiving by providing tandem jumps and wind tunnel flights.  Handi-Capable International also provides education, support and resources on all aspects of the sports world to the challenged and their families.  I began the organization to show people that anything is possible if one removes the mental limitations that commonly hold most people back.

 (Segway from article: below excerpt taken from Dwight’s Facebook Page)

Titled: An amazing person named Minna

 Hey everyone I want to introduce you to an amazing person. Her name is Minna. She is paralyzed and diagnosed with ALS which is a terminal disease. She is an amazing person because of her attitude and passion. Her newest passion is skydiving. She is engaged in an adaptive AFF course starting with tandems and eventually going solo. There are no words to describe just what this lady is about. Check out her youtube account:  extreme wheelchairs. (Author Note: Very inspiring)

As most of you know in October of this year I making the first ever skydive over Mount Everest to raise awareness for not only the physically challenged but the psychologically or mentally challenged. It is for anyone that has a limitation that keeps them from living their lives to the fullest, from grief to hating a job. I am in the process of raising money and have now challenged myself even further.

You see I want to take Minna to Everest to jump as a tandem passenger. It has been cleared with the team and now I have to raise money for Minna as well. I am asking each and every one of you, my friends, to talk to every single person you know about this historic event. This is huge!!!! We need media coverage and sponsors to make this happen and each of you can help in that.

Please help Handi-Capable International not only raise awareness but help us send Minna to Everest for the chance of a lifetime no matter how short that lifetime may be.

You are all more amazing than I can tell you and I know that together we will make this happen. All I’m asking is to spread the word and get people excited.  

(Back to article) 

In October of 2008 24 skydivers, including myself, will be the first group to ever skydive the summit of Mount Everest.  At an altitude of 29,500 feet, I will exit the plane and fall past the summit to become the first amputee to ever skydive Mount Everest. In order to realize this dream I need the assistance and support of my friends, family, and sponsors around the U.S.  My biggest limitation is not my leg. My biggest limitation is financial resources.   

This is where I need your help and support.  Become part of my dream and realize the amazing things that one can accomplish given the opportunity.  Join me in helping to inspire others to realize their own potential and to gain the knowledge that the only thing that holds one back is not physical or mental limitations, but attitude.  Your input, time and consideration are extremely valuable to me.  The fact that I can help and teach others from my experiences gives me an amazing sense of satisfaction and an overwhelming feeling of gratitude, but the lessons I’ve learned from others in this process is invaluable. 

We ALL have only this one life; let us make the best of it and not let anything hold us back from our dreams.

For more information, to all the questions in your head right now, please visit Dwight at: Handi-Capable 

Thank you for your passionate responses and comments.  

Dwight Thank you for reading…Kenyon Salo - Passion Before Paycheck