Jillian Harpin grew up in Wolcott, Connecticut and graduated with a degree in finance from Bentley University. She was a typical 23 year old, working as a financial analyst, enjoying life and spending time hiking outside with her friends. In April 2016, she fell off of a third story balcony while on vacation in Mexico and sustained a spinal cord injury. This left her paralyzed from the waist down. “I was exposed to adaptive sports early on during my time in the hospital and came to realize that staying active was going to play a huge role in my effort of not letting my injury defeat me,” Harpin said. “Once I got home, I joined an adaptive gym and started building up my strength and training in a hand cycle. I signed up for a 5K, then a 10K, and then a half marathon. I’m far more active and even happier now than I was before my injury.” Jillian started rock climbing last year and reports she fell in love with the sport and “how much of a bad ass I felt while doing it.” Following the completion of an obstacle course race called the Gaylord Gauntlet in June 2018, she was encouraged by Erik Kondo to join the Adventure Team Challenge. “Since my injury, I’ve been trying to say yes to every opportunity that comes my way and I continue to surprise even myself with how far I’ve come in the past two years and how much I can accomplish with the right group of people alongside me!”