HAMPTON, N.H. — We all have our own mountains to climb; moments that can seem terrifying, lonely, or life-altering. Each year, Brian Hall faces a big one: Mount Washington. He cycles up the auto road, racing against time and the disease that makes it nearly impossible for him to walk distances without losing his balance.
Parkinson's started presenting itself in Hall when he was just 14-years-old. For years after his early diagnosis, he was angry. Hall was frustrated that the disease took so much of his life, until he realized he was allowing it to. "It can take anything it wants from me, but I decide whether I let it touch my spirit or my soul," says Hall, "And when I realized that, I felt okay."
In his book, "Not Afraid to Fall," Hall writes about the moment he decided to take his own life back, and how he found freedom on the open road. We sat down to talk with Hall at his girlfriend's home in New Hampshire. She, and Hall's brother Mark, were there to support him for this interview; all three of them have Parkinson's disease.
RELATED: Pancakes for a purpose, raising money for Maine kid with rare childhood Alzheimer's disease
Hall has been taking part in the Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Race for a few years now. "I'm not doing it for me. I'm doing it for all the people who don't think they can, or don't think they can do anything," says Hall about his journey. "They're sitting in bed, on a couch, whatever. Maybe they see this and me doing this sort of activity and it will give them the courage to try to do something for themselves."
Hall's cycling uniform has the title to his book, and the words, "Let's take the park out of Parkinson's."
To learn more about Brian Hall's book, "Not Afraid To Fall," click here.