Double amputee completes seven highest peaks challenge

A former Gurkha has become the first double above-the-knee amputee to climb the highest peak on each of the seven continents.

Hari Budha Magar, from Canterbury in Kent, completed his long-running challenge with a gruelling three-day ascent of Antarctica's 16,059ft (4,892m) Mount Vinson, the summit of which he reached on Tuesday.

The veteran, who lost both legs in 2010 while serving with the British Army in Afghanistan, had spent years training in order to prepare for the record-breaking attempt.

"A disability shouldn't limit the size of your dream - anything is possible with enough determination," he said.

Following the loss of his legs to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), Magar said he struggled to recover, both mental and physically, describing "dark" times and "a loss of self-worth".

However, he eventually discovered a new purpose, sparked by his boyhood dream of becoming a mountaineer.

His seven peaks challenge began with the 15,780 ft (4,810m) ascent of Mount Blanc in the Alps in August 2019, followed by Kilimanjaro (19,341ft/5,895m) in Tanzania in 2020 and Everest (29,032ft/8,849m) in the Himalayas in May 2023.

Magar also scaled North America's Denali (20,308ft/6,190m) in June 2024, Aconcagua in South America (22,840ft/6,961m) in February 2025 and Puncak Jaya in Oceania (16,023ft/4,884m) in October 2025.

"That IED in Afghanistan should have killed me, but instead I was given a second chance to do something positive," he said.

"I found amazing people who believed in me, who even helped design new prosthetics to allow me to physically take on the challenge.

"As a result, if I had the opportunity today to bring back my legs, I would actually decline," he added.

"Because my mission now is to help, inspire and empower others.

"There is a lot of work that needs to be done around disability, so I am dedicating the rest of my life to raising that awareness."

Magar, who has been awarded an MBE and is also a Pride of Britain award winner, will donate the money raised from his seven peaks challenge - the current total of which stands at more than £30,000 - to veterans' charities such as On The Gurkha Welfare Trust, Blesma, Team Forces Course Foundation and Pilgrim Bandits.

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