Kathmandu, May 23
Tuesday proved to be a
very busy day for Hari Budha Magar, a 'double-amputee above knees', who
returned to the Capital after conquering Sagarmatha with a new record. He
reached the top of the world with prosthetics and successfully conducted the
journey down to Camp 2.
He received a grand
welcome at the Tribhuvan International Airport by Minister for Culture, Tourism
and Civil Aviation, Sudan Kirati, his relatives and well-wishers, was taken to
Thamel in an open roof vehicle where he interacted with journalists, got
another welcome by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda at his office, and rushed to his residence to celebrate the birthday of his father,
Purai Budha Magar, 73.
Meanwhile, President
Ramchandra Paudel sent an appreciation letter to the record-holder climber from
Rolpa district in Lumbini Province. President Paudel congratulated him for his
dedication, courage and perseverance and said that his feat would remain as a
motivating factor for future generations. President's daughter, Awagya Paudel and
Press Advisor, Kiran Pokhrel, handed over the letter to Hari at a media
interaction in Thamel.
Hari and his team
successfully reached atop Sagarmatha, 8849 metre, on Friday, May 19.
Life-threatening feat
However, things in the
mountains were dreadful and life-threatening.
Hari was slower than
other able-bodied people, needed more help from his colleagues and Sherpa
guides.
"Many times I felt
like abandoning the expedition to Sagarmatha in the middle and return to the
base camp. But I was destined to succeed and set a record," Hari, 43, said
with the journalists. The greater urgency was felt at the Balcony, near the top
of Sagarmatha. His oxygen was finished and was exchanged with a new cylinder
but after a while he felt difficulties in breathing, legs becoming colder and
hand numb.
"I thought it could
be the last moment. I remembered my 10-year-old son who was very anxious about
my Everest expedition," he said, his eyes full of tears.
Later Mingma checked his
oxygen cylinder to find that it had a leakage.
His brother Nanda Budha
Magar got his hand broken after being hit by a stone. Hari was airlifted to
Sagarmatha Base Camp in a chopper from Camp 2. Since the weather window was longer
this year, there was no traffic jam there.
According to Hari, the
international media have portrayed the Himalayas, specially Sagarmatha, as a
dreadful and forbidding mountain, sending terror to the young members of the
families of the mountaineers that dream to climb the mountain.
And, they were partly
true. The mountains are highly unpredictable. Hari and his team had to stay at
the base camp for 18 days waiting for the weather to clear.
"It was not me who
climbed the mountain. It was a team work. Without my team, the success wouldn't
have been happened," said Hari appreciating the support of his 25-member
team with tearful eyes.
A pride of being a Nepali
Buddha, Gurkha and
Sagarmatha. The three elements that make the international identity of Nepal
and its people.
Hari has all three of
them. "I am a Gurkha, I am a Buddhist, and I just conquered
Sagarmatha," he remarked.
He grew up watching
Dhaulagiri and Sisne peaks in the Himalayas from the orchard of his home in
Mirul Village of Rolpa. "As every Nepali child, I was told the story of
Sagarmatha, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay many times which only increased
my interest in the mountains," said the Gurkha veteran who had lost his
both legs in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2010. He was deployed there by the
British Army.
But his job at the
British Gurkha Army couldn't offer any spare time needed to climb Sagarmatha.
He had no time, training and funds to realise his dream. Later, when he was
psychologically ready for the expedition, Government of Nepal banned people
without both legs and eyes from climbing Himalayan mountains. It again, delayed
the adventure.
He had earlier successfully
climbed Mont Blanc (4810 metres) in Europe, Kilimanjaro (5895m) in Tanzania,
Africa, Chulu Far East (6,059m) and Mera Peak (6476m). His success at Mera Peak
in 2017 made him the first above-knee double amputee to summit a mountain
higher than 6,000 metres. He also has records for becoming the first person in
the category to reach Sagarmatha Base Camp and skydiving.
Opportunity to people
with disability
Now, Hari wants to launch
a foundation to support people with disability with skill, courage and
livelihood. His areas of interest are sports and adventure, empowerment, and
mountain and Sherpa community.
"There is a need to
change the mindset of the policy makers as well. People with disability don't want
sympathy but opportunity in their life. There is a great need of running an
awareness campaign," he said.
He stated that people judge
them for their disability or the shortcomings which should be changed as early
as possible.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 May 2023.
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