Jake Speed Fund
June 10th, 2009
Update: Thanks for all your help. $36,000 have been turned over to Jake and Kathy, for which they are EXTREMELY grateful! You can of course still contribute. Please contact me for details at steffen | at | Adventure-Antarctica.de. (You know how to put that one together).
Please help! Jake Speed, world famous in Sweden and New Zealand, needs your help. Join the many friends from around the world who have helped Jake and Kathy as they face this difficult time.
The headline perhaps could have read “Man Lost in Whiteout Survives 58-Hour Ordeal in Sub-Zero Temps.” It is an amazing saga. On April 15, Jake was caught in a whiteout without survival equipment while working near Summit Camp, the highest point of Greenland’s ice cap. He had just checked equipment several kilometers from the main station, intending to return before an impending storm hit. However, a faulty fuel gauge meant his Ski-Doo ran out of petrol about 5km from safety. He dug himself a snow hole and spent the next three nights and two days fighting to keep his blood flowing by standing and walking, as well as forcing himself not to drift into an eternal sleep. When he spotted a plane he followed its direction until he met one of the search vehicles and asked for a lift.
Although he managed to walk out on his own two feet, there was extensive nerve damage. Jake was transported to Nuuk, Greenland for preliminary examination. He was then flown to the UC Davis hospital burn unit in Sacramento for extensive evaluation and treatment. After multiple surgeries, and attempts to partially save his original feet, he has now undergone full amputation of his right hand and both feet. He is currently undergoing an abdominal flap procedure to save full use of the left hand.
It’s easy to help … just send a check payable to “The Jake Speed Fund c/o Beth Watson” to:
The Jake Speed Fund c/o Beth Watson
7722 East Phillips Circle
Centennial, Colorado 80112
For wire transfer/deposit/European account information, please contact me at steffen | at | Adventure-Antarctica.de. (You know how to put that one together).
Update: The fund has been turned over to Jake. You can still contribute. Please contact me for details at steffen | at | Adventure-Antarctica.de. (You know how to put that one together).
Jake Speed (Joseph Gibbons) started with the U. S. Antarctic Program in 1999 as a Utility Technician …starting the first of five consecutive winters at Pole, from 2000 to 2004. He began seasonal work in Greenland in 2004, while still returning to Pole during austral summers as an equipment operator. He set a record for consecutive winters at the South Pole at 5. Jake is very good at his work, and has said, “When I’m on, I’m on, and when I’m off, I just want to chill on the beach and hang with my friends and family.”
Jake was married in 2007 to Kathy Blumm, They’d met at Pole during the 2004 winter and have done several deployments to Greenland together. Kathy was in New York State, preparing for the trip to Greenland, when Jake was medevaced out…. Jake has done extensive traveling, and has done extensive walking on those travels. His wife Kathy stated, “His feet have taken him a long long way over the years; walking the Pacific Crest Trail, across China, Africa and wherever the hell else. The Poles. So, he has maybe gone beyond warrantable miles anyway. Time for something new. As we go into this next phase, I want to take a second here to say thanks. Thanks to all the folks that have been there for us in so many ways and on so many levels. It has been amazing. The flood of mail has been so heartwarming and the donations to the ice fund have blown us away. Thank you.”
Thanks to Bill Spindler who has gathered the facts and photos for this fundraising page while I was on the road in Iran. Please head on over to his original page for the latest updates. Also many, many thanks to Beth Watson, South Pole majordomo and kind spirit for getting the fundraiser started!

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