-
Related
New Zealand mountaineer Mark Inglis, who lost both his legs but still managed to scale Mount Everest, will probably lose a finger following last week's historic climb.
Inglis has been reunited with his wife Anne in Kathmandu, but is likely to lose most of his wedding ring finger.
It was one of five badly frostbitten during his successful attempt to become the first double amputee to reach the top of Mt Everest. His leg stumps are also raw and bleeding from the descent, which included sliding down some of the world's highest peak on sleeping bags behind a yak.
The 47-year-old's legs were amputated below the knee after he spent 14 days trapped in an ice cave on Mt Cook in 1982. Inglis resumed mountaineering after being fitted with carbon-fibre prosthetic legs and climbed the 3,754 metre Mt Cook in 2002 before conquering Cho Oyu two years later.
Anne says his latest expedition was incredibly important to him.
"It's something he's been dreaming about for many years... I know that if he hadn't made it up it would have been really disappointing for him so I can now relax and know that he will be happy with what he's done."
Anne told TV One's Breakfast programme shortly after the accomplishment that once Inglis conquered Mt Cook he knew there was a chance he could take on Everest.
But his ascent up the mountain was not without its hiccups.
Inglis stopped to acclimatise part way up when one of his fixed-line anchors became free, causing him to slide down the mountain and snapping his right carbon-fibre leg in half.
But Anne says the broken leg was not a major issue for her husband.
"He has plenty of spare legs and spare parts... and he never likes to do anything easily, he always likes to have a wee bit of drama about what he does."
He fixed the carbon-fibre leg using duct tape until a spare could be brought to him and Anne says he faced more difficulty when he lost his voice.
"Losing his voice I think that really threw him. I think he felt all right but his throat has been really sore and it was just not being able to talk - and Mark likes to talk."
Inglis has a long list of achievements including winning a silver medal in cycling at the Paralympics, then two years later he conquered the mountain that robbed him of his feet. Anne says she doesn't expect him to slow down as a result of his latest achievement.
New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first climbers to conquer Mount Everest in 1953, but Inglis is the first person to conquer the mountain without his own legs.
Close Up's John Sellwood journeyed to Kathmandu to greet Inglis when he returned from his historic climb. See related video for more.
