2024 Winner
Hari Budha Magar
The first above-the-knee double amputee to conquer Everest is changing perceptions of disability and inspiring people to ‘climb their own mountain’, whatever that might be.
Hari Budha Magar was a Gurkha serving with the British Army in Afghanistan in 2010 when he lost both of his legs in an IED blast. The unstoppable ex-serviceman set himself the challenge of climbing the highest mountain on every continent in a bid to prove disability is no barrier.
Hari, 45, conquered Europe’s Mont Blanc in August 2019, Kilimanjaro in Africa in January 2020 and then became the first above-the-knee amputee to climb to the 29,035ft summit of Everest in May last year. Hari says: “It was tough, I wanted to quit at points, but I just kept going. It was the toughest challenge I’ve faced but I had a powerful reason to keep going – to raise awareness of disabilities.
“I want to change perceptions, to make it clear that just because it hasn’t been done yet, doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Focusing on our weaknesses gets us nowhere, we need to focus on our strengths.”
This year he scaled North America’s highest mountain, spending two weeks on the ascent of Denali in Alaska before reaching the summit in July. To complete his goal, he must climb three more peaks – Aconcagua in South America, Puncak Jaya in Oceania and Mount Vinson in Antarctica.
Hari, who joined the Gurkhas when he was 19, said: “Life is all about adaptation. We have shown once again that nothing is impossible.
“When I lost my legs, I thought my life is finished. I really wasted my time, about two years of my time, just not knowing what to do and just getting depressed. “Whoever is going through that situation right now, or will go through that in the future, I want them to understand that we can do anything. As long as we have a positive attitude and the right mindset, anything is possible.” Hari, who now lives in Canterbury, Kent, was awarded an MBE in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours for his services to disability awareness.