An Australian paraplegic who lost the use of his legs as a teenager has climbed to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, using mostly his hands, and the occasional piggyback ride from a friend.

Everest Base Camp can only be reached by foot or helicopter, and the trek usually takes between nine to 12 days to complete.

Scott Doolan, 28, managed to do it in 10 days, becoming the first paraplegic to complete the feat with minimal assistance.

Using a technique he calls “wheelbarrowing”, Mr Doolan scaled steep ascents with the help of his friend, Matt Laycock.

“As we were trekking we had people stop and cry and tell us we were amazing, and that emotion is so raw, I think that was probably more of a highlight than reaching Base Camp,” he said.

Mr Doolan navigated the 65-kilometre track from Lukla to Base Camp, using a combination of a lightweight carbon-fibre wheelchair — walking on his hands while someone held his ankles, and sometimes being carried.

“I’d do as much as I could in a chair, and when there were sections of stairs I’d get out on my hands and sort of walk along on my hands or jump on the back of a sherpa or Matt,” he said.

Mr Doolan and Mr Laycock, both from Newcastle, trained for their expedition by climbing mountains in New South Wales.

While they prepared for altitude sickness by wearing oxygen-restricting masks during training, they both struggled to overcome the real thing.

“It feels like someone’s putting a hand over your mouth when you’re trying to breathe or sitting on your chest,” he said.

Mr Doolan said he also suffered from culture shock on what was his first trip to Nepal.

“It opens your eyes up that we take a lot of things for granted back in Australia,” he said.

“They hadn’t seen something like this before — like, I was some sort of alien.”

Mr Laycock said the mental and physical challenges of the trek were unrelenting.

“People don’t think about the minor things in having a paraplegic or someone in a wheelchair up on the mountain,” he said.

Source
ABC News