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Legless climber may lose finger
22/05/2006 10:35 - (SA)
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| Mark Inglis seen in action on Mount Everest. (AP) |
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Wellington - New Zealand mountaineer Mark Inglis, who lost both his legs to frostbite 14 years ago, is now likely to lose a finger after becoming the first double amputee to climb Mount Everest, he said on Monday.
Inglis, 47, suffered frostbite to his hands when he reached Everest's 8 850 metre summit after 40 days on the world's highest peak, during which he broke one of his carbon fibre artificial limbs and had to patch it up with duct tape before getting help.
"My ring finger's a bit dodgy," he told Television New Zealand in an interview from Kathmandu.
"That might drop off. I fully expect that to come back to the first knuckle."
Inglis said the stumps of his legs, which were amputated below the knees in 1982, had also been affected again by frostbite - "It was so cold, so cold."
He is returning to New Zealand this week and is booked to go into hospital in Christchurch for treatment. They were amputated when he was trapped in an ice cave on Mount Cook, at 3 754 metres New Zealand's highest peak, in November 1982 while working as a mountain rescue guide.
Asked if it was worth it, Inglis said: "Oh yes, it's not just the roof of the world."
The man who went on to win a cycling silver medal in the Paralympics after climbing Mount Cook and Cho Oyu, in the Himalayas, at 8 201 metres the world's sixth highest mountain, on his artificial legs, said he planned more achievements, but added, "My next Everest won't be on a mountain." - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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