As far as Jack Farley was concerned, there was nothing that was going to keep him from hiking the 2,200-mile length of the Appalachian Trail.
This trekker from Truro would not be deterred — even it meant finishing the extraordinary expedition in sections. No, not high rocky terrain, snow, bears, the long stretches of solitude, insects …
Not even a 2012 head-on automobile accident in Wellfleet, which nearly claimed his life, was going to get in the way of this quest, which he finally completed this past October in Rangeley, Maine, after eight years.
“I had a torn aorta, and was life-flighted out of Hyannis to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston,” recalled Farley, 69. “They basically gave me a new pipe for my aorta. My acetabular, which holds together the femur, was shattered. That resulted in a new hip.”