DeAsia Romes of Conway, a 22-year-old University of Central Arkansas student, climbed Pinnacle Mountain in Little Rock for the first time last week.
Her wheelchair stayed in the car.
Six UCA fraternity members took turns giving piggyback rides to Romes, who has cerebral palsy and is a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority.
“We went up one side, and it was gorgeous,” she said.
Romes, who is known as Baby D, is a graduate of Conway High School and a former homecoming queen. Although she used a walker to cross the stage at her graduation, Romes said she uses a wheelchair most of the time.
She’d certainly never been up a mountain.
“I was kind of nervous at first; I thought, ‘I don’t know how this is going to work,’” Romes said.
But it did.
Seniors Benjy Richards, 25, of Greenwood and Cesar Ramirez, 21, of Rogers, members of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at UCA, spearheaded the trip.
The idea was suggested by Tri Sigma sorority members, friends of the fraternity members, who showed Richards an online post of a fraternity in the Appalachians taking a quadriplegic member up a mountain.
“They (the Tri Sigma members) said, ‘Hey, this would be cool, would y’all do this?’” Richards said.
He said he already knew Romes, a senior psychology major. “I met DeAsia playing co-ed whiffle ball for intramurals; she was on our team,” Richards said.
Ramirez said everybody knows Romes.
“If you don’t know Baby D, it’s pretty rare. She’s pretty popular on campus. She’s outgoing. … She’s a people person,” Ramirez said.
Romes said some members of Phi Gamma Delta, also known as Fiji, had mentioned the idea of taking Romes up the mountain, but time went on, and it hadn’t happened.
“I meant to do it last semester, and we just couldn’t get to it,” Richards said. “The spring semester is kind of crazy. … We always get an ice storm, and it just messes everything up.
“This semester, when I saw her during Welcome Week, I said, ‘Hey, do you still want to go up Pinnacle Mountain?’ and she said yes.”
After days of rain, Aug. 21 was a beautiful day for an outdoor adventure.
In addition to Richards and Ramirez, the trip included Phi Gamma Delta members Steven Bowen, Landon Beard, Hayden Murry and Corey Pillow, as well as Tri Sigma members Meghan Tinkham and Deja James.
“There are actually two peaks on Pinnacle, and one’s steeper than the other one,” Richards said. “Both peaks are pretty jagged and rough to walk on, especially with another person on your back. We safely had access to one side,” he said.
“Each guy carried me a certain number of feet,” Romes said.
Richards gave her the first ride. “I thought it was best to start with someone she was familiar with,” he said.
Romes said the trail was steep in parts, and the guys had to take big steps on the boulders. There were a “couple of slips, but I wasn’t really worried about falling because I trust the guys,” she said. A fraternity member walked on each side of the person carrying her, too, she said.
Ramirez said he had never hiked Pinnacle before and didn’t know what to expect, and he agreed it wasn’t easy.
Taking Romes made it all worthwhile, he said.
“We’re all drenched in sweat and tired, but just looking at her gave you an excitement. It was like an awe-inspiring moment to see her, how happy she was and how excited she was just to be up there,” he said.
“It was a life lesson, too — to appreciate what you have, to appreciate life in general and to help others in need,” Ramirez said.
“It was pretty cool; I’m not going to lie,” Richards said. “You definitely get those warm fuzzies once you get to the top. I’ve been up the mountain a number of times. I’ve been up with my dogs; I’ve been up with girlfriends in the past. I’ve been up with my guys, but going up and taking someone who normally would never have been able to be up there — it’s work; it’s not necessarily easy — but it was a pretty great experience.”
Romes said that when she got to the top, she took in the view.
“I was taking video for Snapchat and just taking pictures, too, to commemorate the moment,” she said.
“It was awesome. It helped me experience something I would not have gotten to
otherwise.”
Richards said the fraternity has gotten attention for its act of kindness, but that wasn’t the intention.
“Fiji at UCA, we took top philanthropy and top community-service awards last year for IFC (Interfraternity Council). We’re very active doing community service, active doing philanthropy. We were just doing it because it’s cool,” Richards said.
Romes said that’s not the end of the story, though.
“I guess Benjy and the guys — they seemed pretty adamant — because I graduate in May, they’re taking me to a different place each month till I graduate,” she said.
“We got her back down and said, ‘OK, where are we taking you next?’” Richards said.
Richards said he has an itinerary.
“We plan to take her to Petit Jean to the waterfall and blue hole. Devil’s Den in northwest Arkansas — that will be a little bit of a drive — and there are two more on the list — the Mount Magazine hiking trail, and there’s a true blue hole in DeWitt,” he said.
And, each time, her wheelchair will stay in the car.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.