Friends help Capano reach new heights

At 4:30 a.m. Sunday, Nick Capano, his two brothers, A.J. and Jonathan, as well as Team PPH (named after the Capanos? late grandfather Paul P. Hanscom), friends and family – 30 strong – geared up for what would be a morning full of intense activity.They were ready to hike up Mt. Washington in New Hampshire in what is known as the Sunrise Ascent.In support of New England Disabled Sports and the Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country, the Capanos and their crew had eight miles to go before they made it to the top.Nick Capano is confined to a wheelchair due to spina bifida, and he was overjoyed at the thought of being able to reach the top of Northeastern United States? highest peak.A.J. Capano said Nick has always been active and ready to face what the world has to offer.?Nick is the biggest blessing in my life in many ways,” A.J. Capano said. “He opens my life up to these amazing opportunities. He?s always had this amazing attitude no matter what he?s going through medically. I knew that this was something we had to do, and to experience it with everyone was incredible.”With a few training hikes under their belts and the final checklist of essentials to make sure Nick would make it, A.J. and Jonathan Capano pulled Nick all the way while he supplied music for the team, cheering them on with tunes as they all climbed to the top together. They reached their destination around 9 a.m. after a grueling hike. Even though they were one of the newer teams, they?d managed to make it up there before a few others.Reflecting on what it meant to him, A.J. Capano said that it was the team making its final push to the top and his brother Nick getting a medal at the end of it all that really put an exclamation point on the week. Every athlete who participated received a medal for his or her accomplishment of making it to the peak.?It was challenging, but because we were challenged more than we all anticipated, we rose to that occasion together,” A.J. Capano said. “Mom and Dad (Mario and Patti Capano), the Reddys – to name a few friends – and the rest of us, we all did this.?I think that Nick would describe this whole thing as being awesome,” A.J. said. “For him, he was able to see the top of Mt. Washington, which not many able-bodied people can say for themselves, let alone a kid in a wheelchair.”