Push On: My Walk to Recovery on the Appalachian Trail

by Niki Rellon

Achtung! Reading this book may cause the following side you may feel the urge to sell all your possessions. You may abandon your family and friends and wander alone in the wilderness for months at a time. You may learn the meaning of “free spirit.” Complications may include tremendous weight loss and the development of muscles you never knew you had. You might also meet incredible people, make friendships that last a lifetime and have experiences unlike any you’ve ever imagined. When Niki Rellon fell 45 feet from the side of a Utah mountain in 2013, she thought she was going to die. She didn’t, but the devastating injuries she suffered may well have put an end to her thrill-seeking outdoor lifestyle. But Niki is tougher than that. Not only did she bounce back, stronger and more determined than ever, but she took on a challenge which defied the odds and had many friends, family and medical experts advising against it. Now you can read Niki’s incredible story in, Push My Walk to Recovery on the Appalachian Trail. It is the memoir of her horrific injury, the revitalization process and her ultimate recovery on one of the longest walks in North America, just 14 short months after her accident. If you’ve ever wanted to read a story which will inspire you and motivate you to believe in yourself, get your copy of Push On today. It may just change your life. Authors My name is Niki Rellon, and I’m a trained chef, a paramedic, a boxing and kickboxing champion, a ski instructor, and a motivational speaker. I’m also the first woman to have hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine on a prosthetic leg. I was born in Germany, but I’m a U.S. citizen now. Shortly after I came to America, I logged more than 15,000 miles on my bicycle as I rode from Alaska to Mexico City, from the west coast to the east coast, from Key West to New York City. In 2006, I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, a journey of 2,600 miles that lasted six months. And then in 2013, disaster struck, and my life was forever changed. While I was rappelling down a canyon wall in Utah, I fell out of my harness and plummeted 45 feet to the rocks below. The fall broke a vertebra in my back, fractured twelve ribs, cracked my sternum, collapsed a lung, shattered my pelvis, mangled my middle finger, and made splinters of my left leg. My foot was so badly damaged that the doctors had to amputate my leg below the knee. Most people probably would have given up on extreme sports after such a horrible accident, but I opted to push on with my life. Against the advice of doctors, friends, and family, I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail just over a year after my amputation. Armed with hiking poles, a new prosthetic leg, and bags of determination, I set out on the journey of a lifetime. Nine months later, I became the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail on a prosthetic leg. Its memoir about my accident, my rehabilitation and my recovery on the AT. The book for $25 has over 180 color photos from the accident, my first skeleton race in Switzerland my experience as a deckhand on the Bounty, as well photos from the Pacific Crest Trail and many more. For a free audio version check out my website www.nikirellon.com

Genres: Biography, Memoir, Nonfiction

211 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2018

Reviews

[Peg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the first part of this book interesting. I like the author's honesty that her recovery was helped by her athletic abilities before her accident. Her comments on listening to what was right for her body and not listening to the negative comments and pill pushing from the medical 'experts' was something that needs to be heard more. Unfortunately the second half of the book, especially regarding the trail left me disappointed. There was not much about the trail itself, rather about all the people that helped her and her misadventures every time she left the trail. After awhile, hearing about all the help she gets, along with her stories about couch surfing and additional problems she's had, you begin to feel she's just not that responsible. The fact that she likes to be active and people help her is why she's feeling positive, I just would have preferred more about the struggles and beauty of the actual trail and what her actual recovery was since she had already biked, motorcycled, skied, etc before she hit the trail. Her recovery from all her mishaps are commendable, I just wish she'd shared a little more on her inner strength.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting memoir by a very determined woman. I met the author at the 2018 Overland Expo, after having first heard about her a week or so before. The story of her climbing accident which resulted in a below knee amputation of her left leg, recovery, and amazing Appalachian Trail through-hike was fascinating. Interspersed with this story were anecdotes from her past. It was clear that Niki has always been a determined athlete, and this certainly contributed to her recovery. Unfortunately the many photos were printed with low resolution, and I would have enjoyed being able to see them better.

[Mark Gannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I have written and rewritten this review several times. Sometimes the rewrites were because I felt I didn’t express myself well enough, other rewrites were because I felt as if I was contradicting myself, and some were because I felt as if I were taking unwarranted pot-shots at the author.

I got the audiobook and the first (roughly) forty minutes of the book was interesting and inspirational. The story of how someone so athletic and experienced wound up an amputee and then planned to hike the Appalachian Trail was intriguing and it did reel me in. If you think there is a but here, you are right. It reeled me in, but then it lost me. What lost me was not lack of interest in the story, but rather an info dump that didn’t really feel necessary to the story.

Forgive me if I throw out some numbers here. The audiobook is roughly three hundred and eighty three minutes long. As I said, the first (roughly) forty minutes hooked me- the next one hundred and twenty-seven minutes nearly lost me completely. To lose a limb is a massive shock to someone who was/is as athletic as Niki and I can’t deny that some back story as to her hobbies/physical achievements are important- but one hundred and twenty-seven minutes talking about motor biking across the U.S., cycling across country, Chef training, her return to Germany, previous hiking experience and skiing (some of which were done after the amputation). A lot of it could have been condensed. Most of this I could have handled, but the one point that I came really, truly close to totally giving up on the book was when the authors friend ‘surprised’ her by organizing for the author to give a lecture and press interview about how hard it was for an amputee to walk the AT- before the author had even set foot on the trail, gotten gear or even done any research.
If you are keeping track, we are now one hundred and sixty seven minutes into a three hundred and eighty three minute book. This is the point the author finally gets on the trail. Overall, there was not much about the trail here. Most of the stories related here are about the adventures (or misadventures) that happen to her off trail.

*sigh*

To quote another reviewer “I would have preferred more about the struggles and beauty of the actual trail, since she had already biked, motorcycled, skied etc before she hit the trail.”
I think it is fair to say that I have conflicting emotions about this book. I admire Niki for being a determined athlete and for pushing herself and being an inspiration.
Two and half/three stars.

[Heather Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Niki keeps you laughing and feeling inspired throughout her entire book! Her audio narrator did a great job making you feel like you're right there alongside Niki as one of her friends, who she so often mentions. She's discovered what's important, what's worth hanging on to when you're falling down. And she's spent 5 of her 9 lives figuring it out!