Jamie Andrew
Jamie Andrew
In 1999, myself and my climbing partner Jamie Fisher went to tackle a mountain in the Mont Blanc range, Les Droites. Approaching the top, we got caught in an unexpected and vicious storm that pinned us to the summit at 4000m in temperatures of minus 30C, on a tiny icy ledge, for five days. When we were finally plucked off the summit, tragically it was too late for Jamie, who had died of hypothermia on that final night, and very nearly too late for me. To put it plainly, my hands and feet were frozen solid. A week and a half later, doctors had to take the difficult decision to amputate both my hands and both my feet.
My prosthetic legs have carbon fibre sockets, stainless steel, titanium and aluminium components, and the feet are carbon fibre blades.
Within a few weeks I climbed Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. I felt on top of the world. I climbed Ben Nevis in 2000; since then I've got near the summit of Mont Blanc. My biggest achievement was climbing Kilimanjaro.
I wanted to climb a 4000m peak this year. The mountain I went to climb with two friends - both mountain guides - is the Weissmies, above the Swiss ski resort of Saas Fee, which we self-filmed for the STV Appeal.
As we climbed there was cloud over the summit, but as we approached the sun just started to break through and the clouds all swept away and we were faced with this incredible vista, with sparkling glaciers and snowy peaks; it was fantastic.
There are so many challenges when climbing without hands and feet. Basically I climb with my arms [without prosthetic hands]. Although I can do it well now, it's only from having put so much effort and time into it. I am having to clamber up rocks using my arms to grip on. Obviously they are not nearly as secure as a pair of hands, yet at the same time I'm placing prosthetic feet on to the handholds and I can't feel with them and I can't rotate the ankles. My feet and hands slip regularly, but hopefully only one at a time.
On the summit ridge, you have to walk along a snowy crest and that is the most frightening part. When you're walking on snow, your feet can slip, and they do. When I'm struggling to balance as it is, being in that precarious predicament is unnerving.
A good mountaineer is good at managing risk and making things as safe as possible.
I was invited to go back to the Mont Blanc range by my doctors in Chamonix. We flew over Les Droites in a helicopter a year after the accident. At that point I realised the mountain wasn't to blame, it was a human tragedy and it was up to me to come to terms with that. Now I have no problem. In fact, I stayed out in Switzerland for four months and I could see Les Droites from my window, so it's not as if the sight tortures me any more. That's where I see the spirit of Jamie Fisher resides; Les Droites is part of me now.
The STV Appeal is about helping kids in Scotland who don't necessarily have the best start in life. I hope people might watch this film and think: "There's someone who faced adversity but didn't let it get him down." With the right help and inspiration we can all draw on the great strength we have within us.
Jamie Andrew's fundraising challenge will feature in the STV Appeal live show (7.30pm, Thursday). Visit justgiving.com/jamie-andrew1
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