Dreaming of building a bright future, Hari Budha Magar from Mirul, Thawang Rural Municipality of Rolpa, joined the British Army at the age of 19.
He was 31 and serving in the Royal Gurkha Rifles when, during deployment in the Afghanistan war in 2010, he stepped on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The explosion blew off both his legs above the knee.
When he regained consciousness after the blast, the father of three children felt his life had ended. Physically and mentally shattered, Budha Magar spent a long period in trauma. To forget the pain, he began drinking heavily and eventually became addicted. At times, he even considered ending his life.
“But the love of my family and my children made me realize that I shouldn’t die. Instead, I decided to forget my physical disability and focus on adventurous sports,” he says. “When I started skiing, golfing, and cycling, my confidence began to grow. These activities helped transform my life.”
Budha Magar traveled to Europe and the United States to play skiing. He became the first athlete in Nepal to ski despite his disability. After receiving mountaineering-related training, he also worked as an instructor. He learned that nothing is impossible if one has the determination.
As a schoolboy, Budha Magar had read much about Mount Everest and was fascinated by the story of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary. Later, he set a world record himself by climbing the world’s highest peak.
With the help of prosthetic legs, the former Gurkha soldier climbed Everest and etched his name in world history. When someone asks how a man with no legs climbed Everest, he answers, “I didn’t climb with my legs; I climbed with my inner strength.”
Budha Magar is now in the final phase of preparing for another historic world record. Under the mission of climbing the highest peaks of all seven continents—the “Seven Summit” challenge—he is now preparing to climb Mount Vinson (4,892 meters), the tallest peak in Antarctica.
His goal is to reach the summit by late December or the first week of January. After completing this climb, he will become the world’s first “double above-knee amputee” to complete the Seven Summits.
He says he designed the Seven Summit plan to raise awareness about disability and inspire others like him to pursue their own mountain-climbing dreams.
Budha Magar says changing society’s perception of disability requires lifelong commitment, and he has vowed to devote his entire life to this mission.
“I am trying to inscribe the name of Nepal and Nepalis in golden letters in the history of world mountaineering,” he says. “Climbing Mount Vinson is not only extremely challenging but also very expensive, so I appeal to everyone to support my One-Pound Campaign.”
Through crowdfunding, he aims to raise £100,000, and nearly £20,000 has already been collected.
He has already climbed the highest peaks of six continents:
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Mont Blanc (4,810m), Europe – 13 August 2019
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Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895m), Africa – 8 January 2020
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Mount Everest (8,849m), Asia – 19 May 2023
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Denali (6,194m), North America – 28 June 2024
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Aconcagua (6,961m), South America – 22 February 2025
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Carstensz Pyramid (4,884m), Oceania – 18 October 2025
He also became the first double above-knee amputee to reach the summits of Denali and Carstensz Pyramid, adding another chapter to mountaineering history.
Budha Magar’s family currently lives in Canterbury, United Kingdom. Just last year, he was honored with the prestigious “MBE” award by the British government.
