Hari Budha Magar, 43, had both legs ripped off in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan in 2010, but this didn’t stop the British Gurkha veteran from setting his sights on Mount Everest.
Magar has already reached the Everest base camp at 17,500 feet and is ready to make the final push “anytime now” in a bid to create a world record of being the first double amputee above knee to summit Everest.
“I am hoping to inspire people to take on challenges and conquer their dreams. I would also like to change the perception of people with disabilities that if you adapt to time and situation, everything is possible, you can do anything,” Magar said in a video message to The Telegraph from the Everest base camp.
As a child, he used to walk barefoot to school at Jebari village in Rolpa district of Nepal. He was married at age 11 and after completing his school leaving certificate (equivalent to India’s Class X board exam) joined the 1st Royal Gurkha Rifles in England.
In 2010, posted in Afghanistan, he lost both legs when he stepped on an improvised explosive device.
Magar, who retired in 2014 and settled in England, started training to climb Mt Everest. He conquered Ben Nevis in Scotland, Mont Blanc in Europe and Mera Peak and Gosainkunda in Nepal. He kayaked around the Isle of Wight in England.
His Everest dream was halted when the Nepal government banned double amputees and blind climbers from attempting the peak in December 2017.
The ban was overruled by Nepal’s Supreme Court in 2018. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now, Magar, who skydived around Everest last year, is set to conquer the peak. On challenges, Magar in his video message was pragmatic: “There are many. The weather can suddenly change, icefalls can collapse....”