Rob J. Quinn’s Blog

Before the pandemic, Rebecca Levenberg could often be found on a rock-climbing wall—participating in the sport she fell in love with  after  she became an amputee. Rebecca holding her climbing leg at the 2018 international Federation of Sport Climbing World Championships held in Innsbruck, Austria. “At first, I liked climbing because it used my muscles and exhausted me like my old activities, skating and biking, used to,” Rebecca told me in an interview we did before the shutdown. “But it became more than that. With biking and skating, I had relearned some skills, but I couldn’t perform at the level I once did. Once I started climbing regularly, I found that I could climb with anyone—and it wasn’t a matter of trying to keep up. In a climbing gym, and even outdoors, there’s a wide range of routes for different abilities and climbing styles.” Rebecca’s life changed drastically 10 years ago next month when a garbage truck crossed into the bike lane she was using. She sustained internal