When asked to support a valuable cause, most of us will agree to a few hours of volunteer work or a financial donation. Not so easy for Brian Evans, MD ’03, who plans to cross the Gobi Desert to raise money and awareness for the Christopher Reeve Foundation during the annual Gobi March in May 2006.

Evans, 28, is a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, serving as the undersea medical officer on the USS Frank Cable in Apra Harbor, Guam. Through his participation in the race he will travel 150 miles in seven days, and hopes to raise $10,000 for the organization. The foundation is committed to finding treatments and cures for paralysis and other neurological disorders, as well as improving the quality of life for people living with disabilities.

What prompted Evans to take on this gargantuan challenge? One week before beginning his studies at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, he saw a close friend fall during an adventure race and sever his spinal cord. “It was devastating, mostly because I wasn’t able to be around for the transition,” he said. “Seeing a guy who I used to mountain bike with not being able to even pick up his arm really affects you.”

Evans will face daunting conditions during the race, to say the least: temperatures reach 125 degrees during the day, and hover around freezing at night, and he will have to climb to altitudes of 14,000 feet in the mountainous part of the course. Still, Evans is confident that his training regimen and experience will enable him to complete the race. In doing so, he says, he hopes to serve as an inspiration to others: “Everyone who can walk can do something physical, and that is what you have to keep in mind. Stay positive and set small goals, and eventually you’ll get to your larger one.”