The story really began in 2002, when Janek who comes from marlbork in Poland was thirteen years old. He was playing table tennis with some school friends when it studdenly started raining heavily. Most of Janek’s friends ran home, but Janek and a friend decided to shelter from the storm in a small building. The building was actually an electricity substantion and Janek suffered a shock 15000 volts. He lost his left arm and a leg in the accident. Janek spen the next few months in hospital. His prent contacted the famous polish explorer, Marek Kaminski, who was a family friend. They hoped that Marek could cheer Janek up and encourage him not to lose hope. But Marek come up with a much more ambitious idea he wanted Janek to make a trek with him to the North Pole.
After the left hospital, Janek had to catch up with his schoolwork but he also began to train intensively for the expedition. Over the next year and a half, Janek had to learn to swim and ride a bike again. He also took up skiing, wich he had never tried before. In may 2004, Janek and Marek out on the long walk to the North Pole. The weather was horrendous and often after a day’s walking they were only two or three kilometres closer to the Pole than the previous day. But on 24 may Janek became the first disable person to ski unassisted to the North Pole. Janek’s Antartic expedition seven months later was even more challenging. Sometimes the temperature fell to minus thirty-five degrees and winds reached 100 km an hour. Janek celebrated his sixteen birthday, 30 December 2004 in terrible conditions about thirteen kilometers from South Pole. His birthday present was two bars of chocolate! But Janek finally reached the South Pole the next day and the same time he broke another world record the youngest person, and the first disable person, to reach both the North and South Poles in the same year.
During his absencefrom Poland. Janek had become a hero and not just to other disable people. Many young people told Janek that his story had thaught them that his history had thaught them that it was important to give yourself difficults goals in life. ‘sometimes suffering can destroy a person and sometimes it can make him or her stronger,’ says Janek’s mother. Despite Janek’s fame dan success, he is still a modest schoolboy who worries that he has fallen behind with his schoolwork. But he is certain that he will make another expedition in the future ‘Perhaps Siberia is next,’ he says. And he isn’t joking.
COMMENT:
In 2004, Janek Manela became the youngest person in history to ski unassisted to the north pole. Six month later, Janek travelled to Antartica with a new global to walk to the south pole. An unbelievable challenge for any teenager. But for the people who knew Janek, his story was even more incredible.
wiraariyo 