Tim Medvetz grew up in New Jersey, and realized early in life that he wanted to explore the world.

First it was Brazil, where he spent his time learning jiu-jitsu, becoming a licensed scuba diver, skydiver, and trying hang gliding. Medvetz had a natural affinity to the outdoors, and there didn’t seem to be an activity he wasn’t interested in attempting.

Always attracted to change, the self-proclaimed nomad moved to New York City where he worked as a bouncer at Hogs & Heifers Saloon for three years. In need of another change of scenery, he rode his chopper to Los Angeles, taking a job at Bartel’s Harley Davidson where he built custom motorcycles. It wasn’t long before he became a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, which provided him with a whole new kind of adventure.

But on September 10, 2001, his adventures were put on hold.

While riding his motorcycle through the San Fernando Valley, Medvetz collided with a truck—an accident that left him partially paralyzed and barely alive. Eight surgeries were required to ensure his foot would not have to be amputated, and two metal plates were needed to help repair his cracked skull. After nine hours of surgery, his shattered back was reconstructed, as was his knee and finger.

Doctors never expected him to walk again.

He woke up on life support the following day, September 11, 2001, where he watched the planes crash into the World Trade Center on television from his hospital bed. The combination of seeing the city he formerly called home being destroyed, and learning to accept his new life was overwhelming, to say the least.

But Medvetz was determined to make a full recovery. It took six months for him to regain the use of his legs, making the use of his wheelchair unnecessary. Unfortunately his spirit didn’t improve along with his body.

What he refers to as a “year-long, self-destructive binge,” came to an end one day in September 2002. Sitting on the floor of his one-bedroom Hollywood apartment, he gazed around the room, and his eyes stopped on a copy of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air that was wedged into the corner of his bookcase. The book, which had been a gift to Medvetz four years prior, had once convinced him that climbing Mount Everest was something necessary to complete in his life, and now renewed his determination.

A month later, Medvetz left his apartment and booked a one-way ticket to Nepal. He lived among Sherpas at the foothills of the Himalayas, where he spent four years training for the climb.

To confirm his commitment, he flew back to California and sold all of his belongings. After seeking fundraising to make his Everest ascent a reality, he then traveled back to Nepal in the spring of 2006. By this time, the Discovery Channel had contacted him about filming the expedition for a 14-part series called Everest Beyond the Limit.

During the filmed journey, Medvetz came to a point approximately 300 feet from the summit. His oxygen level was extremely low, and he was faced with the decision of trekking forward or turning back. He chose the latter.

Although it was a huge disappointment, Medvetz decided to make a second attempt the following year. Despite shattering his hand along the way, on his second try, he reached the summit of Mount Everest at 7 a.m. on May 21, 2007.

“I was in a wheelchair for six months, so Everest was really just about me and recovering,” Medvetz told ActionHub.

It didn’t take long for people to start asking him what was next on his bucket list.

“You need to fill that void left by the adrenaline rush, but what do you do?” he said. “I started skydiving again, scuba diving, doing motorcycle trips, but it wasn’t enough. I [decided] I was going to do the Seven Summits. That would keep me busy, that would keep me climbing.”

But something was still amiss.

“With mountaineering, it’s a really selfish sport. People die every year. You’re going to be gone for months on end,” he said. “With Everest, a lot of people are trying to raise money for something. For me, then, it was just about Tim.”

Once he reached the summit of Everest for the first time, he decided that any expedition from there on out needed to represent something bigger.

“Nothing really hit home with me. Then one day I was watching this TV special on Veteran’s Day. There were all these injured Vets who were getting up and speaking. There was this guy who was in Iraq, trapped inside a humvee, and he was basically burned alive,” he recalled. “He was burned beyond recognition, and he was talking about how proud of an American he was, how he would go back tomorrow. This lightbulb went off in my mind … this is the cause.”

He contacted the people who had sponsored his previous trips and asked if they would be interested in sponsoring a trip for himself and a wounded veteran. He figured that if he could gain that much renewed faith in himself after climbing, so could others. Sponsors quickly got on board. In 2009, Medvetz founded The Heroes Project.

“I’m just a small-time kid from New Jersey, rode with Hells Angels for 10 years, I’m a climber. When I started doing this, you have to get legit,” he said. “I was in Barnes and Noble buying a ‘how to run a nonprofit for dummies’ book. But it grew. The next thing I know, Diane Sawyer is calling me. It just kind of happened.”

Since the nonprofit’s inception, Medvetz has taken wounded veterans on six of the seven summits, with the Mount Everest climb, which is planned for next month, being the last.

He recalled the first expedition, which was with US Army Sgt. Keith Deutsch on Russia’s Mount Elbrus.

“We got 50 feet below the summit, and it [had been] a whole day of wanting to turn around. Finally we got over this ridge, and boom, there’s the summit,” Medvetz said. “He [Deutsch] gets to the top and throws his arms up in the air. It was the first time that the last thing on my mind was getting myself to the summit to take a picture. It was all about him. After that, I decided I had to keep doing it.”

Going on this year’s Operation Everest expedition is USMC SSgt. Charlie Linville.

“On January 20, 2011, Sergeant Linville and his team were responding to an IED detonation. While conducting a sweep of the surrounding area, Sergeant Linville was struck by a tertiary device. The IED blasted Charlie into the air, and brought him directly down into the blast crater. The explosion inflicted multiple injuries on Sergeant Linville, some visible others not. Sergeant Linville suffered fractures to his right foot including his cuboid, calcaneous, and two outer metatarsals, in addition to fractures sustained in his right middle finger, and amputation of his right ring finger.

“Other injuries that resulted from the blast include lower spine trauma, PTSD, and mild traumatic brain injury. After Charlie was medically evacuated he was flown to Bastian Medical Center where he underwent surgery on his hand. Next, Sergeant Linville was flown to Bagram Air Force Base where he underwent additional surgery on his hand. Once Charlie was flown out of Afghanistan he went to Germany for three nights. He then flew to Bethesda, Maryland for a night and finally reached his destination at Balboa Naval Hospital where he received multiple surgeries on his hand and foot. Charlie has undergone multiple experimental surgeries in order to walk again. Charlie lost his foot to a below the knee amputation the summer of 2013 after fighting for over a year to save it.” The Heroes Project profile reads.

With only one journey left, Medvetz said life for both him and Linville is all about training.

“Living in L.A., we have mountain peaks around here. It’s great training grounds. I’ve been training with Charlie and we were in Ecuador for a month,” Medvetz said. “With each expedition, it’s just me, one [injured Veteran], and a camera crew. I firmly believe that it’s better in what we do when we focus on one veteran at a time. I feel like I can have more of an impact working with one guy.

“Every weekend of my life for the last four years has been in the mountains with these guys.”

The Everest climb will take them roughly 72 days and it is set to begin next month. Medvetz said he feels a bit more prepared since he’s done the climb twice before. Advice he gives to those planning to climb Everest: “Bring lots of baby wipes, showers are a commodity,” he joked.

As for his plans for the future, Medvetz simply said, “I’m happiest when I’m in a place where my phone doesn’t work.”

On a more serious note, he said, “Since 2003, there have been more than 43,000 injured Veterans. We have more work to go. We need help.”

The Everest trip has not yet met its fundraising goal. To donate, visit the Crowdrise page.

Images courtesy of Tim Medvetz/The Heroes Project