For most people, climbing a mountain as challenging as Everest is an impossible feat. For others, it is a worthwhile challenge–one that can be potentially deadly for even the most skilled climbers. But for Nepalese climber Sudarshan Gautam, summitting Mount Everest will prove not only to be the biggest challenge of his life, it will also prove to disabled climbers around the world that disabilities do not define people.
“People only see me with no hands, (they) don’t see my abilities,” says Gautam, who lost his hands at age 14 when he flew a kite into a high voltage wire and nearly died after being electrocuted. Despite losing his hands, Guatam has learned to live a ‘normal’ life. First he learned to write with his toes, then to brush his teeth and do normal day-to-day things hands-free. Then he began climbing, and in 2005, he climbed Nepal’s Yala Peak without artificial limbs or oxygen.
Now, Guatam is in the process of planning his climb of Mount Everest, which he will begin in March 2012. A nine-person team will accompany him up the mountain, including a doctor in case of a medical emergency. Guatam plans to use his teeth to pull himself along ropes where necessary. “People always think I will die (on Mount Everest), but this is not true. Besides, you could die any day, right here. I am not scared,” he says.
[Via: Metronews.ca]
[Photo Via: ramechhaponline.com]
