Doane alum climbs some of the world’s tallest mountains, despite having Hemophilia B

A Doane alumni brought in a big crowd Tuesday night as he spoke about the challenges he has faced and overcome in his life.

Chris Bombardier was born with Hemophilia B, a rare bleeding disorder in which the blood doesn’t clot normally.

The medicine that treats this is taken with an IV so Chris had to learn at a young age.

“When I was younger, we didn’t treat to prevent bleeds,” said Bombardier. “It was pretty painful growing up having this but as I’ve gotten older, I have gotten to manage it a lot better.”

Chris went on a college visit to Doane and fell in love with the people. Despite having a bleeding disorder, he played baseball and ended up facing a fair share of scary moments.

“I remember physically carrying him into the emergency room, he got a treatment and then I carried him back to his dorm room later and he recovered from that,” said Doane Assistance Athletic Director, Cody Vance. “Chris was really a tough kid and he didn’t let that stop him.”

After graduation, Chris looked for more ways to be physical. His tough mindset followed as he became the first person with Hemophilia B to summit all seven of the highest peaks on each continent.

Chris’ alma mater was the first place he decided to show his documentary of the challenges which highlights his climb up Mount Everest and 6 other summits, all while overcoming challenges of having Hemophilia.

“Oh, I wouldn’t miss Chris’ visit here for the world,” said Doane Nurse, Kelly Jirovec.

“I wanted to be here not only because Chris was a student athlete but to support him tonight, we are all very proud of him,” said Vance.

Chris is now staying indoors and taking an active role with a non profit, to bring awareness to bleeding disorders around the world.

“People with the same condition as me in developing countries, most of them don’t even make it past 10 so I want to bring awareness and change to that,” said Bombardier.