"You get this blanket statement that your life is going to be shorter, that you're going to lose your legs and go blind," says the 24-year-old Consultant in Booz, Allen's Chesapeake, Va. office, near Norfolk. "I've heard a lot about what I can't do. I don't take that attitude; with me, it's what CAN I do."
What Clare is doing now is planning a December 2000, all-diabetic ascent of the Western Hemisphere's highest peak - the 22,834-foot Cerro Aconcagua, which sits on the Argentina's central border with Chile. By reaching the summit, the international expedition of insulin-dependent climbers - now at eight and growing - hope to raise some $2 million for diabetes research and spread the awareness of both the challenges and the triumphs inherent to the lives of those living with diabetes.
Clare calls the undertaking, IDEA 2000, short for "International Diabetic Expedition Aconcagua 2000." To date, it includes a diverse group of experienced diabetic mountaineers, who Clare contacted through the Internet. Ranging in age from Clare's 24 up to 36, they come from Spain; the Netherlands; and, in the U.S., from Colorado, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Florida. And they include a lawyer, an electrician and a biology graduate student; all participants are spending a considerable amount from their own pockets for the climb.
Preparations are steaming ahead. IDEA 2000 hopes to commit some 95 percent
of the donations directly to diabetic research. Expedition organizers have
approached several organizations, but hope to target most of the donations
to the needs of diabetics in Latin America, where Clare says insulin, the
medicine that diabetics need to survive, is in particularly short supply.
Like many good ideas, the plans for the expedition originated as an
after-thought. Last July, while returning to Virginia from a white-water
rafting trip in West Virginia, a friend told Clare she had read that a
group of blind climbers had scaled the 19,340-foot Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
"Why not try a similar climb by diabetics?" she suggested.
"Well, why not?" Clare remembers asking himself. The next day, he posted an e-mail to diabetes and climber user-groups, seeing if any were diabetic climbers, and, if so, whether they would be interested in "climbing something." That got some climbers, as did information from the International Diabetic Athletes Association.
Continuing to organize the climb, bringing in more participants and working into peak climbing condition is a monumental task, Clare admits. "There are nights I get home after a long day and have 30 e-mails waiting," he says. "Keeping the project on track, keeping on top of all the details and raising money for diabetes research, is an education in itself, but is something to which I'm completely committed."
Along the way, Clare also finds time to climb when he can and to volunteer at the Virginia Beach Rock Gym, where he teaches rock climbing to children and teenagers. Although Clare is an experienced hiker and climber, he says that mountaineering at high altitudes, with the lack of oxygen and need to carry upwards of 70 lbs. of equipment, is a whole new experience from hiking at sea level. To help get acclimated, he plans a February climb of the 19,000-foot Pico de Orizaba in Mexico.
"Todd is an exemplary example of what Booz, Allen people can do with the right skills and determination," says the McLean-based Director of Community Service Kevin Casey. "The firm is committed to helping him achieve his ambitious goal."
And, if all goes according to plan, around this time next year, Clare and other diabetic climbers will be standing atop Cerro Aconcagua.
"We want to inspire those with diabetes and other physical challenges
to move beyond their perceived barriers and lead fuller lives," says Clare.
"And we want to educate the general public about diabetes and the benefits
of exercise as an integral part of healthy living with diabetes."