Ex-Nepalese soldier with artificial legs conquers Everest, creates history

Source: NDTV

An official said on Saturday that an ex-British Gurkha soldier with two prosthetic legs climbed Mt. Everest. He made history by being the first person in his group to climb the world’s highest peak with prosthetic legs.
Hari Budhamagar, who is 43 years old, reached the top of the 8848.86-meter peak late Friday afternoon.

“Ex-soldier Hari Budhamagar made history on Friday when he became the first person with his condition to reach the top of Mt. Everest,” a Department of Tourism official said. Budhamagar, who lost both of his legs in the war in Afghanistan while fighting for the UK government as a British Gorkha soldier in 2010, climbed Mt. Everest with prosthetic legs.

He had planned to climb Mt. Everest in 2018, but he had to change his plans after the government made a rule that blind, double-amputee, and solo hikers couldn’t climb mountains, including Everest, in 2017.

A petition was brought against the ban, and in response, the Supreme Court issued an order in 2018 that cancelled the rule. This made it possible for Budhamagar to make history.

On Sunday, five people from outside of Nepal reached the top of Mount Everest.

This spring, Nepal gave out a high number of permits to climb Mount Everest: 466.

Nepal has eight of the ten highest mountains in the world.

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