The Importance of Real Partners

By Dr. Jim Dahle, WCI Founder

Last summer, I suffered some serious injuries as a result of a long fall while climbing in the Tetons. I don't know when it will run, but this is actually the first blog post I wrote after that traumatic incident. It's been six days since I left the ICU so forgive me if I'm a little too sentimental, but I'm still tearing up daily with gratitude for the people and other blessings in my life.

We talk a lot on this website about financial capital, wellness, happiness, and using finances to improve your life. It's important to remember that money doesn't actually buy the most important things in life. People and your relationships with them are what really matter at the end of the day. In this post, I wanted to highlight three partnerships that really came into play after my accident.

Climbing Partner

Christian packrafting the Zion Narrows

Despite recent popular documentaries, technical climbing is not an activity that is typically done solo. That's mostly because you need someone holding the other end of the rope in case you fall. But over the years, a climbing partner becomes far more than a ropeholder. You share meals, gear, tents, long drives, adventures, hopes, dreams, fear, struggles, and more. When you fall, you know your partner will have you with an attentive catch. When you don't fall, their confidence boosts your confidence. You feed off each other's energy, and you are better together than you ever could be solo. I've climbed with lots of people over the years, but when a big scary objective starts forming itself into an actual trip, I, like many climbers, have a go-to partner.

Dr. Christian Feinauer and I started climbing together back in 1999 as MSIs at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Four years later, none of our classmates were remotely surprised to see us both match into Emergency Medicine. Over the years, we've had plenty of adventures together. We've climbed, canyoneered, biked, hiked, paddled, and traveled together internationally. Due to careful planning, extensive preparation, and years of experience, our adventures usually go swimmingly, although at times we've faced serious challenges.

When I took a bad fall on loose rock on the North Face of the Grand Teton, there was no one I would have rather had holding the other end of my rope. Not only did he keep me from plummeting hundreds of feet to the Teton Glacier below (limiting my fall to a mere 30 feet), but he rapidly recognized the severity of the situation, took the non-trivial technical steps needed to stabilize it while on a sheer cliff at over 12,000 feet, prevented further injury, and intelligently initiated the steps necessary for my rescue from an extremely difficult-to-reach location.

While we're still debating whether his five-mile plummeting ride while attached to the end of a cable dangling from a helicopter was thrilling or terrifying (I have no recollection of mine), he was the one who had to call my wife and tell her how serious things were. Thank you, Christian, for being such a great partner. I truly owe my life to you. You're my hero.

More information here:

Heroes of My Life — Part 1

The Heroes of My Life — Part 2

Life Partner

Katie adventuring in Heaps Canyon two weeks before my accident.

While Katie and I have often been climbing partners, including on other routes on that same peak, our partnership is dramatically more significant. We're partners for life or, as we believe in our particular religious persuasion, forever. Where Christian left off, Katie took over. Dropping everything in her life and dumping the kids off on extended family members, she jumped in the car and drove to Idaho to be at my side.

She “slept” in the chair in the ICU room (yes, I know nobody actually ever sleeps in an ICU) for the next three nights. Then, she drove me home, at which point she took over for what the hospital staff had been doing for me. Nursing head-injured me back to health while keeping our personal, family, and business lives going, all while running for public office, has been a gargantuan task (FYI, she ended up winning her school board race). The little tasks that constantly come up when someone has injuries to both arms are numerous and annoying, but there is no one I would rather have helping me figure life out and regain personal independence.

Her compassion and strength are truly incredible. Thank you, Katie, for everything.

My Clinical Partners

Utah Emergency Specialists

By the time I regained meaningful neurological awareness a few days after returning home, I was pleased to see that everything related to my clinical practice was already taken care of by my partners. They had volunteered to cover my shifts, and I was basically left with nothing but well wishes for a full recovery.

Even the hospital sent me some flowers!

My return to practicing medicine will likely be a bit gradual to avoid my usual single coverage situation due to my wrist injury, but I'm grateful to know that my profession will still be there when I'm ready. I've been in this partnership for the last 15 years. Sometimes I've sacrificed for others, but when it came time for my need, I'm grateful for the people that I'm proud to call partners.

More information here:

Don’t Push Your Luck (Physically or Financially)

Others

Others who came to my aid in the days following my accident aren't necessarily partners but friends and family. I had high school/college friends drive from New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah to see me in the hospital. Think about the people in your life who would drop everything to be with you in a time of crisis. I've got a few of those people, too!

Your Partners

There are important people in your life, just like there are in mine. Just as you build your career and your portfolio, build those relationships. When the excrement really hits the ventilatory system in your life, those relationships are going to be what really matter. Show appreciation to them every chance you get. As Christian told me a week later when I reached out to see how he was doing mentally after going through this harrowing experience, “I know that everything I did for you, you would have done for me.”

He's right. I would have. I hope you have people in your life like that, too.

What do you think? Who are the people in your life that you would drop everything for and drive to another state if they were suddenly hospitalized? How do you build relationships like that? 

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