PORTLAND, Maine — Since 2008, the Call family has participated in the Trek Across Maine, a 180-mile cycling event from Sunday River Ski Resort to Steamboat Landing in Belfast. But this year will mark the first trek for Philip Call since he experienced a serious accident while hiking the Appalachian Trail last spring.
On April 12, 2014, he fell 50 feet from the trail, flipping on a cliff rock into a ravine and severely injuring his leg.
“I had a lifelong dream to walk the Appalachian Trail,” Call said. “It wasn’t until last year when I was 65 and retired that I decided to do it. I may not have have finished the trail, but I still want to complete it in my lifetime.”
He was airlifted to the University of Tennessee hospital, where he had multiple surgeries on his leg to fix his broken bones.
“Fortunately there were rafters nearby who rescued him,” said his wife, Karol Call. “We thought he was going to lose his leg, but after about 10 surgeries and a month of hospitalization, he’s doing much better.”
Philip Call, his wife and two children, Mikayla and Katelyn Call, will ride in the event Friday to Sunday.
Each year, the Trek Across Maine attracts more than 2,000 cyclists and 750 volunteers. The largest fundraising event for the American Lung Association, it has raised more than $22 million over the past 30 years.
“We hope this shows everyone that you can come back from such great adversity,” said Karol Call.
The family is participating in the Trek Across Maine also to promote the lung association’s mission of improving lung health and preventing disease. Philip Call said that the idea came as he lay bedridden in the hospital with his wife by his side.
“I couldn’t even walk when my wife brought up the idea of doing the Trek Across Maine,” he said. “Together we agreed that participating in the Trek was a good idea and ultimately gave me a goal to work towards.”
As a patient in the hospital, Karol Call said her husband had to perform a variety of breathing exercise regimens to prevent the onset of pneumonia.
“When we were doing the breathing exercises for his lungs and getting him on the exercise bike for physical therapy, he had said that he wanted to make it a goal to participate in the Trek again after of the struggles he’s overcome,” she said.
The family’s team name is “Blackhorse,” Philip Call’s Appalachian Trail hiking name that came from the Army outfit he served with in Vietnam.
“I found it fitting to call our team ‘Blackhorse’ out of respect for the men I served with that didn’t make it through the war and gave me the opportunity to hike the trail,” said Call. “My motto has always been ‘adjust, adapt and overcome.’ Being a combat veteran is something that sticks with you, and I’m very proud to have been part of Blackhorse.”
The Trek Across Maine has provided him with feelings of great accomplishment in previous years of crossing the finish line, he said. This year will serve as a landmark in his successful rehabilitation and remind him why every day is gift, he said.
“I have no regrets because the Appalachian Trail is a wonderful and amazing thing to do,” Call said. “I have a burning desire to finish it, and my journey starts by participating in this Trek Across Maine.”
Other than enduring excruciating physical pain, he often felt the most difficult thing to deal with was the emotional pain of not finishing the trail, he said. His family, by his side during his entire rehabilitation, gave him the drive and determination to overcome life’s challenge, he said.
“I think the support system really helped me get better and motivated me to get better,” Call said. “It was difficult to get my body to work again, and if it wasn’t for my wife and kids giving me great incentive, I don’t know where I would be.”