THUNDER BAY -- With a little help from his friends, Jeff Carlson has gone to the edge and back.
Carlson, who uses a wheelchair, kept seeing pictures of his friends at the top of Mount McKay and wondered what it'd be like to take in a view of the city 1,000 feet off the ground.
About a month ago he and his friend and local filmmaker Damien Gilbert decided it was time that Carlson got that chance. After a call out on social media, around a dozen friends gathered Monday afternoon and, with the help of a stretcher, took Carlson straight to the top.
"We just had to make it happen," Gilbert, who takes a weekly trip up the mountain, said.
Carlson said after living in the city for more than a decade, it'd be nice to see the view from the other side. He was also grateful for all the support.
"It's awesome. I didn't think it'd be a big turnout like this," Carlson said before making the trek.
"I've been some pretty remote places but never like a mountain."
For Carlson and his friends, the journey was also about proving that no barrier is insurmountable.
"You can do anything you want really," he said.
The group isn't sure where to go next after Mount McKay, which took them about two hours there and back, but Carlson said he's sure they're heading somewhere.
