A 71-year-old retired attorney climbed Mount Kilimanjaro less than 9 months after emergency back surgery — a journey that nearly ended before it began.
Carol Romej had spent months training for the climb when she fell while sprinting up a Lake Michigan sand dune with nearly 40 pounds on her back, just 8 days before her scheduled departure last fall. Her left leg went numb immediately.
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"The left leg went numb right away. So I knew it was bad," Romej said.
Walking became difficult. Standing up straight was impossible. She was forced to cancel the trip she had planned as a 70th birthday milestone.
"Yeah, I felt pretty bad because it was only a week, you know," Romej said.
But she never stopped believing she would make the climb.
"But I still wanted to do it. I always viewed it as a postponement," Romej said.
A Henry Ford Sports surgeon recognized a spine problem and referred Romej to Dr. Kevin Taliaferro, Division Head of Orthopedic Spine Surgery at Henry Ford Health.
"It wasn't a huge disk herniation. It was just in the exact wrong spot and sitting on one of her nerves," Taliaferro said.
The herniated fragment was pressing on the nerve serving her left leg. On October 6, Taliaferro removed the herniation through a small incision. When Romej woke up, the difference was immediate.
"After the surgery, that nailed it. As soon as I woke up," Romej said.
"I almost felt like something biblical. Carol, stand up. And I did," Romej said.
Taliaferro understood that moment in a way few surgeons can. On the first day of his spine fellowship, he needed the same operation urgently — making the relief he delivers to patients deeply personal.
"I can empathize with my patients what it feels like to have that pain and feel that there's no hope and then wake up and feel instantly a changed person," Taliaferro said.
Within an hour of surgery, Romej was walking without leg pain. Physical therapists rebuilt her training plan, and by January she began training again.
On June 22, less than 9 months after surgery, Romej summited Kilimanjaro — the tallest and highest free-standing mountain in the world, rising more than 19,000 feet above sea level.
Her guides kept a steady reminder throughout the climb.
"They were always saying, pole, pole, slow, slow. Baby steps, no full strides, especially the last day," Romej said.
The summit itself offered a perspective unlike anything below.
"When you're on top, it's not, there's no range of mountain. You are alone. You can do a 360. You're above the clouds," Romej said.
"It's almost like you're in heaven," Romej said.
She had only 2 minutes at the summit, but the achievement didn't fully sink in until the next day.
"I think it didn't hit me until the day after, when you get your little certificate that you summited," Romej said.
Henry Ford Health staff have taken to calling her "the mountain woman." Romej credits Taliaferro and the team at Henry Ford Health for giving her the confidence to keep going.
"He gave me total confidence with that as well as all the other mountains I want to do," Romej said.
The self-described gym rat who bikes, hikes, and chases the next adventure has no plans to slow down.
"I'm going until you can't anymore, you know, I just feel I'm blessed," Romej said.
Romej isn't finished. Next week she leaves for Poland's Tatra Mountains — a trip with special meaning because her grandparents came from Poland.
