Double amputee tests new prosthetics for next climb

Jadzia Samuel
BBC News, Canterbury
Patrick Barlow
BBC News, South East@PBarlowJourno
Shanta Nepali Productions/Jeet Bahadur Tamang/PA Wire Hari Budha Magar MBE, with two climbers at the top of Mount Everest. He is wearing a red coat with both of the other climbers wearing yellow coats. They are on top of a snow covered mountain peak.Shanta Nepali Productions/Jeet Bahadur Tamang/PA Wire
Hari Budha Magar MBE will test new prosthetics as he aims his next big climb

A double amputee who climbed Mount Everest is helping to design new prosthetics as he looks to complete the seven summits.

Hari Budha Magar MBE, a disability campaigner from Canterbury in Kent, will test new feet and prosthetic designs which he hopes will improve access for outdoor activities in the future.

Mr Magar, who became the first above-the-knee double amputee to climb Mount Everest in 2023, is now looking to climb the seven highest summits on the seven continents including Everest, Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc.

He said: "I learn so much through doing that but also I am able to prove people with disabilities can do anything."

Hari Budha Magar Hari Budha Magar MBE, wearing a red and black coat and smiling at the camera. He is stood atop a mountain with a grey sky in the background.Hari Budha Magar
Hari Budha Magar MBE became the first double above-the-knee amputee to summit Everest in 2023

Mr Magar, who was awarded an MBE by Princess Anne in December, will travel to South America to continue his pursuit of the seven summits climbing feat.

The Pride of Britain award winner said that if he completes the challenge he would join a list of just 500 climbers who have achieved the feat and the only double above-the-knee amputee to do so.

He added his mission was to raise awareness of disabilities around the world through his climbing efforts.

Mr Magar, originally from Nepal, lost both of his legs in an IED explosion while serving as a Gurkha in Afghanistan in 2010.

The father-of-three summited Everest in 2023 after campaigning for people with disabilities to be allowed to climb the mountain.

Mr Magar is now aiming to climb the highest peak on each of the seven continents and will attempt climbing Mount Aconcagua in Argentina in February, which is expected to last three to four week.

He has already completed four of the seven summits and plans to climb Acongagua, Puncak Jaya in Oceania and Mt Vinson in Antartica.

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