best for ROYALS
THE PRINCESS & THE HERO
Just before Hari Budha Magar was presented to the Princess Royal last week, he talked movingly about climbing Everest as a double amputee…
Hari Budha Magar joined the British army aged 19. Having grown up in a remote part of Nepal, his career choice gave the already married Hari and his young family the chance of a better life.
For the next 15 years, he served on five continents as part of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, but on a tour of Afghanistan in 2010, he stepped on an explosive device, resulting in the loss of both his legs above the knee. The explosion ended his time as a soldier, but nothing could stop his soldier’s spirit. His military career now behind him, Hari became determined to carry on with sport and tried kayaking, skiing and even rock climbing.
Finally, to raise money for five of the charities that helped him recover, he decided to climb the world’s tallest mountain – and last May he became the first double amputee to conquer Everest.
Speaking to fellow sportsman and keen amateur mountaineer Made In Chelsea’s Joshua Patterson at the Not Forgotten Garden Party Buckingham
Palace last week, he said: ‘Obviously every step is hard for me and there is a very fine line between success and failure. There were days when I nearly gave up, but I didn’t, and I made it.’
As Har
