Craig DeMartino never thought this would happen to him. He was 100 feet up a cliff in Rocky Mountain National Park when―with one step―his 13 years of rock climbing experience and 15 pounds of gear plummeted with him to the ground. Expert climbers say that if you fall 10 feet you have a 10% chance of dying, a 20% chance at 20 feet, 30% at 30, and so on. Craig fell 100 feet. By basic calculation, Craig should not be alive today. But he is.
In the months that followed, the pain, the subsequent partial leg amputation, the media attention, and the knowledge that his body was broken challenged Craig on a daily basis. Scarier still was the realization that his faith was broken too. Slowly, as his physical body recovered, Craig’s emotional and spiritual body strengthened as well. In prayer, Craig learned to take God out of a box and allow His plan and promise to be revealed. Looking back, the doctors and nurses played a big role in Craig’s recovery, but it was a series of miracles that saved his life.
For anyone who has been knocked down or run over by life, After the Fall not only offers an engaging read but also provides a clear message of hope: sometimes the greatest gift we can receive isn’t just healing, but the power to endure.
Craig DeMartino travels throughout the country sharing the powerful message God preserved his life to deliver. His incredible recovery has been documented in video; has been covered on Discovery Channel’s Vital Scan series, CNN, and NPR Radio; and is the inspiration behind Gripping Point, a sixpart Bible study based on pain and how to deal with it in our lives. Craig also hosts the Outdoor Channel program Fight to Survive, which tells the stories of adventurers who found themselves in life and death circumstances. Now climbing again, Craig is the first amputee to ever climb Yosemite’s El Capitan in a single day and has won five gold medals in climbing competitions at the Extremity Games. He has also launched After the Fall Ministries, working with other trauma survivors and speaking to groups about his experience of how God’s love changed his heart. Craig shares his passion for climbing with his wife and two children.
Bill Romanelli is a professional freelance writer and author of numerous stories, guest commentaries, op-ed articles, and books, including Terminal Velocity and Life Is . . . Pursuit of the Dream. He and his wife, Janet, live in Northern California, where in addition to writing, he works as a public affairs consultant.
