Neither age, nor adversity could stand in the way of Xia Boyu, who climbed the highest mountain in the world at the age of 69, becoming the second double-amputee ever to do so. Overcoming tragedy and official barriers, Boyu proved that resilience and determination can move mountains.
Testing times
Boyu lost his legs on his forst attempt to climb Everest. An avid mountaineer, Boyu was part of the Chinese Mountaineering team to Everest in 1975. At 8,000 metres, not far from the summit, the team was caught in an altitude storm. They were stranded for three nights in the merciles storm in the ‘death zone’ of Everest, where there is so little oxygen that the body starts to die, minute by minute, cell by cell.
Under such extreme circumstances, one of his team mates took ill and Boyu generously lent him his sleeping bag. Exposed to the harsh cold, Boyu’s feet experienced frostbite and had to be amputated.
Before Boyu could even come to terms with his mutilated body, a couple of decades later in 1996, disaster struck again. He was diagnosed with lymphoma. This time, the doctors had to amputate his legs above the knee to prevent the cancer from spreading to other parts of his body.
Grit and determination
In such adverse conditions, it was impossible to think that Boyu would ever be able to climb mountains again. But he was not one to give up. Reaching the summit of Everest was his dream and he was determined to fulfill it.
Wearing advanced sports prosthetics, he trained longer and harder and attempted to climb the mountain again. His gruelling exercise routine involved waking up at 5 a. m. Everyday and doing 1,500 squats holding 10 kg weights, followed by 360 push-ups and 240 sit-ups.
After getting into shape, Boyu returned to Everest in 2014, but this expedition failed too. His second attempt in 2015 was also cancelled following a 7.8 earthquake that shook Nepal and triggered more avalanches on the mountain. On his third attempt in 2016, he had reached within 94 m of the summit, but a blizzard stopped him from going any further.
Race against time
Then, in 2017, Boyu realised that he did not have much time to complete his challenge. The Nepalese government had announced a ban on double amputees along with visually impaired and solo climbers from reaching the summit in an effort to prevent overcrowding and improve safety of climbers.
Had the ban come into place, it would have dashed Boyu’s hopes forever. But as luck may have it, the new rules raised a global outcry.
Hari Budha Magar, a former Royal Gurkha Rifles soldier and a double amputee, launched legal action, citing violation of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities.
In response, the Supreme Court put the ban under temporary review on the grounds of being discriminatory.
With a renewed sense of purpose, Boyu decided to give it one last try in this window of time.
Dream comes true
In May 2018, Boyu, with the help of 12 Sherpa guides, reached the summit. While he became the first doube amputee to reach the peak from the Nepal side, New Zealander Mark Inlis, who has also lost both legs to frostbite, conquered Everest in 2006 from China.
For his endurance and sporting spirit, Boyu was awarded the Laureus Sporting Moment 2019.
Picture Credit : Google