Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro...

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Spencer West Achieving the Impossible

Transcript of Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro...

Page 1: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

Spencer West

Achieving the Impossible

Page 2: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

Page 3: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

He reached the top by crawling on his hands. West lost his legs when he was only 5 years old.

Page 4: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

The trek to the top took seven days, hiking through Tanzania's jungles, snowfields and deserts.

Page 5: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

Mr. West was forced to make 80 per cent of the journey on his hands, only hopping in a custom-made wheelchair when the terrain allowed.

Page 6: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

Mr. West’s hands were left bloodied and bruised after the trek, but insists the pain and discomfort were ‘worth it’.

Page 7: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

Mr. West was born with sacral agenesis, a genetic disorder that left his lower spine poorly developed and his legs permanently crossed.

Page 8: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

He had his legs removed below the knees at the age of three and, two-years-later, had them amputated to below his pelvis.

Page 9: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

Porters carry Spencer West's wheelchair up Kilimanjaro, so he can use it when the terrain allows him to give his battered

hands a break.

Page 10: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

When he was a child doctors told Mr. West he would struggle to live like a normal person - something he has remained

determined to prove wrong.

Page 11: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

Spencer West spent a year training for the Kilimanjaro trek at his home in Toronto, Canada.

Page 12: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

He had to be sure he had enough strength in his arms to carry him up the 19,000 ft high mountain.

Page 13: Spencer West Achieving the Impossible. In June 2012, Spencer West reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro – a 19,341ft. mountain.

His incredible climb has raised more than £300,000 for Free The Children, a charity which brings water to thousands of

Kenyans experiencing drought.