Community Member’s Accessible Camino Pilgrimage Recap
The Impossible can be Possible
Angela, an individual living with SELENON-Related Myopathy, recounts completing the Camino de Santiago through the I’ll Push You Accessible Camino program. She overcame six grueling days of steep hills, ancient Roman roads, and mechanical breakdowns—each hurdle cleared through teamwork with her "pusher" Sophia and their group of captains and carriers. Her journey culminates in an emotional arrival at Santiago de Compostela's cathedral square, fulfilling her nine-year dream. Her story is not only one of a solo triumph, but as proof of what becomes possible when you trust others enough to be carried, both literally and figuratively.
It feels almost impossible to capture the incredible community, difficulty, joy, vulnerability, fatigue, trust, surrender, and adventure surrounding our Camino experience into a blog post, but if the Camino with I’ll Push You has taught me anything, it is that the impossible can be possible.
As an individual living with SELENON-Related Myopathy, I applied for the Accessible Camino experience and was accepted with my dear friend Sophia as my able-bodied “pusher.” Read my previous blog post on my experience leading up to the Camino trip.
I knew this journey would be difficult, but I don’t think I realized just how difficult it would be.
Sophia and I, in addition to the entire I’ll Push You group, planned very thoroughly for this trip, but we didn’t expect to be hit with so many barriers before even hitting the trail.
To give you an idea of how our trip started, while Sophia was en route from Seattle to my apartment in Memphis, I spent seven hours in the emergency room with a very painful kidney stone. As I was laying there trying to convince the doctor I was OK to still go on the trip, I found out from the airlines that the second leg of our flight to Madrid was never actually booked. You can imagine my anxiety at this point, thinking to myself, “What else could possibly go wrong?” Shout out to the ER staff who were astonished at the adventure I was supposed to embark on and did everything in their power to get me well enough to travel.
Despite the barriers thrown at us, Sophia made it to Memphis, and the next morning we headed to the airport with my mobility scooter, the Grit hiking chair, and our bags. I miraculously was not experiencing intense pain from the kidney stone during the flights, which I was grateful for. After arriving in Madrid, we did however experience significant travel difficulties, particularly associated with accessibility. We ended up missing our flight to Vigo, Spain, eventually arriving with an hour to spare before the welcome dinner.
Arriving at our hotel and meeting the people who I would be trusting to push, pull, and carry me over the next few days instantly put all our anxieties to ease and made all the barriers worth it. Do you ever meet people and just think to yourself, “Wow, what an incredible human?” This is how I felt meeting our group members for the first time. Our group of 60+ consisted of eight wheelchair users and one visually impaired person, and an incredible film crew for the documentary, More Than Steps Film, which will highlight our trip.
Here is a brief summary of what our days consisted of:
Day 1
Our journey began in Vigo, hiking to Redondola, 16 km away. Due to the very steep village hills, our chairs had to be strapped to pull up the hills. The true spirit of our Camino trip was put into play right away. I loved getting to see the beautiful countryside and quaint villages. The beauty provided such a peaceful atmosphere to walk in, sometimes in silence, sometimes chatting with the group and hearing each person’s story. At the end of the day, we were glad to reward ourselves with tapas, sangria, and gelato before sleeping soundly and preparing for the next day.
Day 2
We hiked 19km from Redondola to Pontevedra which proved to be the most physically demanding day. It was a combination of walking through villages and vineyards. There were such spectacular views and so many moments where I had to pinch myself that this was real. After lunch, we needed to focus and navigate a long stretch of what is known as the Roman Roads; ancient roads left from the Roman empire which are now large, uneven boulders. Our teams had to make sure each captain had sufficient pushers (in this case, carriers) to get us over the boulders. This arduous task required planning each step over the uneven terrain, positioning each carrier to ensure they felt stable, and excellent communication. I had to wear a chest strap to ensure my torso was stabilized, and I used a travel pillow to further support my neck. We safely completed the Roman roads and felt so proud of ourselves afterwards!
Day 3
We hiked 22 km from Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis. It is crazy to think that five days ago at our starting point in Vigo, that our group began as mostly strangers. After such a short amount of time, the depth of the bonds formed cannot be fully explained, and their strength and authenticity would prove to be essential. My pusher/carrier group became separated from the main group, and while we enjoyed the peace of the beautiful Spanish vineyards, my wheelchair developed a flat tire. Through some flexibility, many stops to repump the tire (thank you Cliff & Sophia!), we made it to our destination. We stopped at the local distillery and ate a dinner of Spanish tortillas, cured meats, Spanish salad, cheeses, and ribs smoked on site. We patched the hole in my tire and ended up not needing to change the tire completely
Day 4
Day 4 consisted of hiking 19 km from Caldas De Reis to Padron, through a combination of fields and forested areas. We had another Roman Road section which required Sophia and others to carry me and my wheelchair up a steep hill of boulders. Accomplishing another round of this was a proud moment, but even more so when one of our group members surprised us by getting out of his wheelchair to climb up the Roman Road with his walking sticks. We were all simultaneously cheering and sobbing with joy to see the impact of his intense physical therapy after his spinal cord injury.
Day 5
Today was a shorter day, just 12 km from Padron to Teo. It was a combination of rural countryside and quiet Spanish villages. One of my favorite parts of the Camino adventure was seeing and interacting with other pilgrims from around the world. The people we met were in awe of our group of wheelchair users completing the Camino. We met a local family walking the Camino. They were all very impressed that wheelchair users were also traveling the Camino. This put into perspective how much of a feat this was.
Day 6
Our final day of 14 km from Teo to Santiago de Compostela left me with mixed feelings of excitement and sadness that this would be the last day of our journey.
We spent the morning hiking through forested areas. Around 1PM, we made our way to the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela. Europe was experiencing a heatwave and we were soaked with sweat as we walked through the city. Before entering, our group stopped at Alameda Park outside the Old Town for some team photos with the Cathedral of St. James in the background. As we walked through the narrow streets, people stood and clapped for our group as we took our final steps toward the Cathedral square. Sophia made sure to be the one pushing me in my chair for this last day. We paused, with tears streaming down our faces, hugged each other, then proceeded to march into the square with the rest of the I’ll Push You team.
I don’t think I can fully put into words the feeling of walking into the town square on Day 5 and completing the Camino. How do you fully capture the culmination of the single dream you’ve had for nine years? Eat, sleep, walk, roll, in the quiet Spanish countryside had been our lives for almost a week, and now it was over. I am so grateful for the opportunity to not only complete this goal, but to form connections with an incredible group of people. This isn't simply a “look what I accomplished” story.
It is a story about trusting other people enough to let them help you accomplish something you couldn't physically do alone.
For those with disabilities, the reality of traveling, whether to a café down the street or a rural hiking trail in Spain, can bring a host of barriers, anxieties, and challenges. Instead of focusing on “What could go wrong?” I hope that my experience highlights how much can go right when you trust other people to carry you—literally and figuratively.
Thank you Justin, Patrick, the I’ll Push You community, the More than Steps Film crew, our generous donors, my pushers/carriers, my fellow captains, and my dear friend Sophia. You all inspire me more than you’ll ever know. To the heights & Buen Camino!
