A Rogue Climber Running From the Law Was Fleeing His Own Trauma
A former paratrooper became an “urban explorer,” scaling the tops of bridges and buildings to help ease his PTSD. He now faces criminal charges in several states.
Isaac Wright pulled himself up onto the crest of a 400-foot suspension bridge last fall, looked down at the specks of headlights below, and experienced a rush he had not felt since he was paratrooper in an Army Special Forces battalion.
He had left the Army a few months before on a medical retirement after six years in uniform, but as a civilian, he soon felt disillusioned and directionless, struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and thoughts of suicide.
Climbing, he discovered, helped. Hoping to build a profession as a photographer, he had started scaling buildings to find different views, and realized it also offered a fresh perspective on life. Going up hand over hand forced him to focus on the present instead of the past. The vistas were inspiring. It was better, he said, than any therapy he had ever tried.
So he started crisscrossing the country, chasing that feeling. He trespassed at night, jumping fences, edging across girders, scrambling up skyscrapers, stadiums, bridges and construction cranes, joining a fringe community of like-minded adventurers who call themselves urban explorers. He made stunning photographs and shared them under an alias on social media, where he attracted thousands of followers.
