What happens when you do everything wrong? (Ashima Shiraishi, the climber)

New Yorker has a story on Ashima Shiraishi, a 14-year-old rock climber. She was born to Japanese immigrants living in Manhattan when her mother was past the age at which physicians recommend childbirth:

For more than ten years, they tried to have a child, availing themselves of every method they could afford. When Tsuya turned fifty, they were ready to give up, but their doctor urged them to try once more. “It was our last chance,” Tsuya said. In June, 2001, a daughter was born: Ashima. “She was a miracle baby,” Tsuya said.

Tsuya recalls that even in the hospital nursery Ashima ceaselessly moved her hands, arms, and legs: “All the time, not stop. I couldn’t believe it. I think she has monkey DNA.”

How about taking the doctors’ advice to rest up before the big climb?

Ashima often gets just five or six hours. She arrives home from climbing at eight-thirty in the evening, showers and eats, and then starts in on her schoolwork, which she insists on finishing. She’s often up well past midnight. “We say, ‘Don’t do homework!’ ” Tsuya said. When I asked her if Ashima got straight A’s, she said, “Yes. Well, sometimes she gets A-plus.”

2 thoughts on “What happens when you do everything wrong? (Ashima Shiraishi, the climber)

  1. “When Tsuya turned fifty, they were ready to give up, but their doctor urged them to try once more” What mandatory insurance plan had a doctor urge a 50 year old to try to have a baby?

  2. Fascinating story about an extraordinary girl and her remarkable parents. Thanks for sharing.

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