Meghan was never the lifelong outdoor enthusiast like many in our First Descents family. In 2008, a year after her breast cancer diagnosis, both her friend and her brother peer-pressured her into participating in her first FD camp. Apprehensively, she drove 7 hours up into Northern California for the first and only FD Otter Bar Kayaking Camp and spent a week with Daril, Daryl, and 15 other amazing campers and volunteers. As you can probably imagine, her life was forever changed. Fast forward 5 years and Carnage has (without any prompting) participated in a total of 5 FD camps: kayaking in CA and WA, surfing in Santa Barbara, and two FDX Trips: Main Salmon, ID and Peru! In addition, in 2012, she fell in love with the concept of the FDi while working as an FD AmBadAssador – kayaking and surfing with new FD recruits who, within one short weekend, became FD family members.

Outside of FD, Carnage lives in San Francisco and alternates her mornings between the beach and Crossfit. For the past 10 years, she has spent her days working with at-risk youth as a social worker. Her experiences with FD have helped change the way she thinks about working with youth; she has learned firsthand the power in reclaiming your life through physical challenges. She is now working with friends to start an after-school program for at-risk youth that involves physical challenges as a way to reduce recidivism within the juvenile justice system.