“True to the Trail” footwear brand Oboz named Jo Giese, of Bozeman, Montana, as one of its “Local Heroes of the Year.” Giese – an author, radio journalist and adventurer – overcame a potentially crippling injury that could have ended her ability to walk, let alone hike.
“Jo has overcome so much to continue to follow her passion for hiking,” said Abigail Cook of Oboz Footwear Brand and ESG. “Her resilience is so inspiring, as are her words.”
In 2018, Giese fell at the bottom of a flight of stairs and tore her Achilles tendon. Following multiple surgeries, doctors unable to reattach her torn tendon, and an infection was introduced in her ankle area, causing tissue to die and her Achilles to become no longer viable.
Given a less than one percent chance of walking again, Giese spent two and half years in physical therapy, building the strength of the tendons around her Achilles so she could walk again. Giese has long been enamored by waterfalls, and published a book documenting the various ones to which she has hiked, in Keep Chasing Waterfalls: A Story of Adventure, Tragedy and Defying the Odds.
She is one of six local heroes that Oboz is announcing this year. Along with being featured on the vendor’s site, each Local Hero receives four pairs of Oboz footwear of their choice.
Giese was nominated by her physical therapist, Taylor Isaacs.
“She showed an unwavering dedication to a restorative exercise regimen for two and half years,” said Isaacs. “She emerged triumphant, and as a self-described waterfall-junkie, she has returned to hiking to her favorite waterfalls, especially Hyalite, Ouesel and Big Timber Falls in the Crazies.”
To learn more about Giese, visit https://obozfootwear.com/en-us/local-heroes.
