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A few years ago, Bill Barkeley was sitting in church when he got the idea to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Located in Tanzania, it’s the world’s largest free-standing mountain, rising more than 19,000 feet. It’s a 45-mile, six-day trek through six eco-systems to the summit.
What’s remarkable about the idea is that Bill wasn’t exactly sure where it came from — maybe he received a message from above, so to speak. He never even had an interest in climbing a mountain. But most remarkably, Bill has Usher syndrome, which has robbed him of much of his hearing and vision, making the endeavor incredibly formidable.
 For a while, Bill shelved the idea to climb Kilimanjaro, but it kept coming back to him. He read about Eric Weihenmayer, the first blind person to scale Mount Everest, and then decided to pay a visit to Jeff Evans, a guide with Mountain Vision Expeditions, who told him, “You have to do it.”
So with the help of Jeff and assistive technology for both his diminished hearing and vision, Bill set out to do the climb.
Despite Usher syndrome, Bill had been leading a relatively ordinary life as a 44-year-old husband, father of three, and Director of Marketing for Steelcase, a leading maker of office furniture. He had been wearing hearing aids since the age of five, but didn’t know he was going blind until the age of 28. After getting into a series of car accidents, Bill realized something wasn’t right with his vision. Eventually, he was diagnosed with Usher syndrome, and the news hit him hard at first. “That was a very dark time,” he said.
But soon after learning that he was going blind, Bill had an opportunity to talk with Gordon Gund, Chairman and Co-Founder of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and was very inspired by Gordon and his accomplishments. “After I walked away from meeting with Gordon, I knew that I was going to deal with blindness,” he said.
Once Bill made the decision to climb Kilimanjaro, he began training 2.5 hours a day, getting up at 5 a.m. to hike in a local park wearing a backpack stuffed with bar bells.
Bill decided that he wanted to use the climb to raise awareness about the assistive technology he was using. Phonak, a maker of advanced hearing systems, was supplying him with an audio communications system that would keep him in touch with his guide, Jeff, throughout the entire trip. He was also given portable night vision goggles, so that he could see in darkness.
Despite getting sick early on and a lot of sleeplessness throughout the climb, Bill and 12 others in his party successfully reached the summit of Kilimanjaro in September 2007. At the top, he was able to see stars for the first time since he was a teenager. He said, “It was an incredible experience to see for so many miles. It’s a memory that will never go away.”
Bill’s story was carried by print and broadcast media from around the world including ESPN and ABC’s Good Morning America, and he continues to speak to a variety of organizations and groups about his experience. Bill’s primary message is that people with disabilities can do so much given the opportunity and the assistive technology. He remarked, “I may have not done it the same way that other people climb mountains, but I got to the top. I may have done it differently, but I have no less desire than anyone else to accomplish the things I want to accomplish.”
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