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December, 2006
The Common Man’s Will to Kayak
By John Mudano
I n this day and age it is the extreme athlete that garners recognition and graces the pages of periodicals for completing amazing feats. In our society the common man doing amazing things is often overlooked or missed entirely. Seth Kallman is one of the common men and he is dying.
I met Seth for the first time when he picked me up as I was hitchhiking back to the put-in at the Deerfield. His van stunk of wet polypro and neoprene and he gladly brought me and a bunch of other stragglers back to our vehicles. The second time I met Seth was on my first trip to the Kennebec. I had driven up to meet a friend who, as it happened, also knew Seth. We hit it off - especially since I had Top Ramen in my food box and he had pork chops. I was a chef and that dinner and weekend on the river (Seth led me down) started a close relationship that has spanned more than twelve years.
This spring Seth was diagnosed with IPF, (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis), a fatal lung disease. When he called me and told me I was shocked and devastated. I heard fear in Seth’s voice for the first time. Neither of us was ready for our paddling days together to be over, and thanks to Seth’s tenacity they weren’t. Seth had signed up for a kayaking trip down the Grand Canyon with Jim Michaud and was determined to make it. He sent his doctor a photo of himself dropping into a hole on the Deerfield and tried to explain to him the type of lifestyle he wanted to continue to lead. The doctors prescribed pulmonary rehab, exercise and oxygen. With a little nudging, they understood the kind of man Seth was.
In order to complete the trip he was going to have to get on some big water and do it with an oxygen bottle. Seth contacted Jon Baker, our good friend and industrial designer, and asked him to modify his PFD (an original design of Jonathan’s). Jonathan flew home from Oregon and manufactured and attached a pocket that would hold a small O2 bottle. The boat, a glass sleek, was modified to hold a larger bottle between his legs, as well.
We decided to hit the second 7000 cfs release of the spring on The Dead River and also get a day in on the Kennebec. We made it to the put in with another good friend of ours, Bob Berliner, and Seth got his apparatus organized. We hoped it would work since The Dead is a long day and it is impossible to get out of there without walking a long way or paddling the entire run. As we put in Seth looked like a Navy Seal with his O2 bottle strapped diagonally across his chest. I am always nervous whenever we start a run - Seth never was until that morning.
We agreed we would all take it easy -- a little surfing -- and just try to finish the run without Seth taking the long swim. It did not take Seth long to abandon that attitude and he was soon surfing up a storm in his fiberglass Sleek. He would turn up the O’s, surf, and then turn them back down. Raft guides and fellow paddlers were amazed at his courage and attitude. The typical response after Seth told them what was going on was, "that is too cool, uhm, I mean, the fact that you are paddling."
Seth is the kind of person who helps others rise to and surpass their potential. Whether it is mentoring a young paddler (like Jonathan) or convincing me that I can run Crystal on the bottom Moose (he did and I had a blast) he gets people to move beyond their comfort zone and find out what their true potential is. He has brought the same attitude to his illness.
We finished the run on The Dead after changing oxygen bottles and had a phenomenal time on the Kennebec the next day. We headed home to flooding and possible dam failures (always nice to hear) and Seth spent a week paddling the Contoocook (on O2) and felt great.
We spoke before I left for a trip on the Allagash, since he was leaving for the canyon while I would be away. He was feeling confident and was excited to paddle. I thought of him often over the next few weeks and got a call from him as he was speeding through Arizona and I was preparing to go on a mountaineering trip. His trip was phenomenal and he ran every drop. Being Seth, he also ran into Dr Michael Gray of Benson, Arizona
one of the two pulmonologists in the country who was an expert in IPF (and in the Grand Canyon besides). Seth always has a kind word and is a natural networker. Everywhere we paddle - whether it be the Moose, Ottawa, Dead, Kennebec, Rouge, Contoocook - and everywhere in between we manage to bump into someone Seth knows. He has sent tissue samples to him and is optimistic.
Now Seth continues to work, and paddle and he is the model for oxygen assisted exercise. At the behest of his doctor, he speaks to small groups in his situation and is living proof of what determination and a great attitude can accomplish. As I sit here in Canadian Rockies finishing this article I am looking forward to paddling the Kennebec once again this fall with my good friend. He is a common man, but is a man to be respected for just that reason.
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