Chinese climber, 69, crippled on Everest, finally scales peak
Xia Boyu had both lower legs amputated after getting frostbite on the mountain in 1975, but never gave up his dream of scaling the world’s highest peak
A 69-year-old Chinese man, who had both lower legs amputated through frostbite after trying to climb Mount Everest over 40 years ago, has finally successfully scaled the world’s highest peak.
Xia Boyu reached the summit on Monday – his fifth attempt at climbing the mountain.
Xia was severely injured during a Chinese climbing expedition on Mount Everest in 1975.
His team had to turn back about 200 metres below the summit in a storm.
A Tibetan teammate lost his sleeping bag and Xia, who was confident of his ability to resist the cold, lent him his. He woke the next day suffering from severe frostbite in his legs and had to ride down parts of the lower reaches of the mountain on a yak.