Moving Mountains

More than 40 years have passed since Xia Boyu lost both his legs to frostbite after an unsuccessful attempt to climb Mt Everest.  If you think that would surely have marked the end of the Chinese climber’s days of mountaineering, think again.  For fast forward to 2018, and the now 69 year old has become the second double amputee to scale the world’s highest peak.  It is all a far cry from those dark days in 1975 when Xia was stricken with frostbite after he selflessly gave up his sleeping bag to a sick member of his party during a storm.  For three days, the team were stranded at around 8,000m by the extreme weather conditions.  Unfortunately, that was the last thing Xia needed as his condition became so serious that there was no choice but to have both his feet amputated.  But that was just the start.  Two decades later in 1996, he lost more of his legs, this time up to the knee as he battled against lymphona.  However as Xia explained to AFP news agency, despite his injuries he never gave up on his dream: “Climbing Mount Everest is my dream…It also represents a personal challenge, a challenge of fate.”  Challenge well and truly conquered for after three unsuccessful attempts in 2014, 2015 and 2016, Xia has now finally realised his dream thanks to the help of a team of sherpas.  And according to the Himalayan Times, he has also become the first double amputee to climb the mountain from the Nepalese side.  Xia Boyu, The Daily Cheer salutes you sir.