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CNN Live At Daybreak
Interview with Wendy Booker, Clay Roscoe
Aired June 10, 2002 - 06:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to switch gears, a very positive story here. Climbing to the top of North America is no simply feat, even for someone in top condition. A seven-member unguided team scaled Alaska's Denali. You might better know it as Mount McKinley.
And two of those climbers are Wendy Booker and Clay Roscoe, both of them have MS. Wendy and Clay join us live to tell us all about the Climb for the Cause -- good morning you two.
WENDY BOOKER, CLIMB FOR THE CAUSE: Good morning, Kyra.
CLAY ROSCOE, CLIMB FOR THE CAUSE: Good morning, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, we have got to get right down to it. How was the climb? Wendy, your personal feelings.
BOOKER: It was everything and then some. It was mentally, physically and emotionally extremely challenging, but it was an experience that I never thought I would get and have, and it was awesome.
PHILLIPS: Clay?
ROSCOE: Yes. Excellent climb.
PHILLIPS: Same question.
ROSCOE: I had a fantastic time up there. Getting to Denali has been one of my goals for quite a while now, having been a climber for some time. It's a mountain that people come to from all over the world. We were climbing the mountain with teams from almost every continent, and every day was fantastic. It was a challenge, but also a privilege to be up there in the Alaska Range.
PHILLIPS: Well, it has been a double challenge I guess for both of you. You both have MS. You are involved with this Climb for the Cause. I want to talk about Climb for the Cause. But first, let's talk about MS, and let's talk about how that affected your climb.
Wendy, tell us, what type of precautions did you have to take considering the fact that you did have this to deal with in addition to the hardships of climbing? BOOKER: Well, you have to listen to your body, and I have been able to push back and stay physically active because of the therapy I take. I take Copaxone, and I am able to really enjoy pretty much everything. I also noticed that on the mental aspects, as long as I am staying physically active in anything I try, I forget about my MS. So taking on a new challenge such as climbing a mountain enabled me to go to places I never expected.
But more importantly though was the reason that we did the climb, and that was to show that people with MS are capable of anything, and to encourage those who are newly diagnosed to get on one of the therapies as soon as they find out and meet with a neurologist. So that was so near and dear to my heart. The rest kind of came easily.
PHILLIPS: And, Clay, now you are a student -- a medical student.
ROSCOE: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Have you thought about maybe you will be the one to find a cure for MS?
ROSCOE: Well, I actually -- I just finished medical school. I graduated two days before I came up to Alaska for this climb, and I am actually going to train in family practice out West. But I do follow MS very closely, and I may not be the one to come up with a cure, but I will certainly probably be the first one to find out about it.
PHILLIPS: Oh, I love it. All right, you guys came really close.
BOOKER: Yes.
PHILLIPS: You made it to 17,000 feet, almost 20. Are you going to go for it again, Wendy?
BOOKER: Absolutely. We are already strategizing on how we are going to do it next year.
ROSCOE: We have been talking about it quite a bit. We really went as high as the mountain was going to let us go this year. We ran into some weather problems and also some high wind up high. From a safety consideration, we decided that was the turnaround point, 17,200, but we would really love to take our experience from this year and come back in a year and give it another try and see if we can go higher.
BOOKER: And again, it sends a message of why we did the climb.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. You know what? What do you think your involvement just says to the world, not only with other people with MS, but just to all of us?
ROSCOE: It's just -- you know, if you have got something that you are struggling against in your life, whether it's chronic disease or something else, you know, the best thing you can do is just focus on ability versus disability, get out there and push yourself and stay active. BOOKER: And take on a new challenge, or try something you never thought possible.
PHILLIPS: Clay Roscoe, Wendy Booker, we salute you both. Climb for the Cause, get involved. You two are awesome. Thanks for being with us.
BOOKER: Thanks, Kyra, for having us.
ROSCOE: Thanks so much, Kyra.
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