Finnish comic artist Kaisa Leka breaks preconceptions about disabilities and being outdoors

“Landing on the island was very difficult because of the wind and the waves. Suddenly, people appeared from the lighthouse with helmets on their heads and brooms in their hands.”

This kayaking trip to the Märket lighthouse, located on a small treeless island on the Finnish-Swedish border, is one of Kaisa Leka’s all-time favourite memories. It has everything she wants in an adventure: beautiful nature, physical activity and a reminder that even though trouble may be inevitable, things usually turn out just fine. The people were volunteers working in the lighthouse, hurrying to the kayakers to guide them to a safer landing spot.

And the helmets and brooms? Protection from terns, seabirds nesting on the remote skerry in the vast Finnish archipelago.

“That was a very exceptional kayaking trip, with a very exceptional welcome, in a very exceptional place. We camped there for three days as the wind picked up again. The volunteers heated the sauna for us so we could wash up,” she recalls her story, smiling.

Adventures on new feet

Kaisa Leka is an award-winning comic artist and an unlikely adventurer who wants to show that the outdoors is for everyone.

She was born with “funny feet,” as she puts it, that caused her increasing pain and difficulties in moving. At 23 years old, she had her feet amputated from below the knees, an experience she has documented in her acclaimed graphic novel I Am Not These Feet.

She began using prosthetic legs. The prosthetics allowed Kaisa to move around more freely. First, she started to do little bike rides. Soon, short rides turned into overnight adventures. And before she knew it, she was cycling lengthwise across Finland from Porvoo in the south to the Arctic Sea in the northernmost part of Norway with her husband, Christoffer. When they reached the vast open spaces of Lapland, Leka suddenly understood the magnitude of her accomplishment.

“I was thinking to myself: This cannot be real. I’ve cycled all the way up here.”

Leka’s adventure resume makes for an impressive read: cycling across the United States, paddling from the White Sea to the Baltic Sea, tackling the mountains of Morocco on a bicycle. Even though many of her adventures are weeks or months long, she consciously aims to appreciate the small outings closer to home in Porvoo.

“Heading outside and cycling for two kilometres on a sunny winter’s day or going to the local outdoor recreation area with snacks can be enough.”

Nature is for everyone

Photo: Christoffer Leka

While Finland is widely known for its forests, lakes and fells, Leka recommends everyone visit the archipelago. She believes a kayak is the best way – and often the most accessible way – to explore the sea and its countless islands and skerries.

“We are all equally small before the sea. When I’m on the water, I feel that my disability does not really impact my mobility.”

Kaisa uses her work, art and social media presence to inspire everyone to go out and explore.

“I want to break the preconceptions people have about disability and what being outdoors as a person with a disability means,” she says.

In recent years, authorities and organisations have built wheelchair-accessible routes, rest areas and toilets in many Finnish national parks and recreational areas. Leka has also been involved in a project that develops more accessible nature services for people on the autism spectrum or with other disabilities.

Leka is a huge fan of Finland’s famous “everyone’s right”, the law that allows everyone to enjoy nature, pick berries and mushrooms, or fish with a rod and line, regardless of who owns the land.

“Everyone’s rights should apply regardless of functional ability or any other factor. Nature is for everyone.”

By Lotta Heikkeri, ThisisFINLAND Magazine, March 2025