Hari Budhamagar, an ex-British Gorkha soldier, who lost both his legs during the Afghan war, on Friday said he "cried like a baby" after conquering Mt. Everest.
The 44-year-old mountaineer scripted a world record as he became the world's first double above-the-knee amputee to summit the 8,848.86-metre peak on May 20. He lost both his legs while fighting on the side of the UK Government in war-torn Afghanistan.
“My eyes were full of tears as I reached just 100 metres below the peak,” he said, adding that “the tears turned into ice” before they fell on the ground.
The mountaineer described the moment of extreme joy he experienced while fulfilling his highest dream in life.
“After I reached the top, I cried like a baby,” he told reporters in Kathmandu describing his success story.
“I did never cry when in grief, but I cried in joy sometimes,” he said.
After putting his artificial legs on top of the world, he embraced the supporting Sherpa team on Mt. Everest.
Mr Budhamagar had to stay at the Everest base camp for 18 days due to bad weather, before heading towards higher altitude.
"My aim to climb the mountain is for making people aware of disability, not to set new records,” Mr Budhamagar said.
Mr Budhamagar had postponed his plan to scale Mt Everest in 2018 after the government introduced a mountaineering regulation that banned blind, double-amputee and solo climbers from climbing the mountains including Everest in 2017.
A writ petition was filed against the ban and in response to that the Supreme Court nullified the rule by issuing an order in 2018 paving the way for Mr Budhamagar to write the history.
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