By Steven Fahle

The first disabled person to summit Mt. Everest finds a way to give back with “a leg and a goat” By Steven Fahle

Mount Everest is the “Super Bowl” of mountaineering, with one major difference; only a tiny percentage of those who set foot in this arena reach the summit and one person perishes for every six successes.

In 1998, Tom Whittaker conquered the challenge, becoming the first disabled amputee to successfully climb Mt. Everest. It was his third attempt. When a man with only one foot enters the high stakes game of Himalayan mountaineering, not as a guided participant but as the expedition leader, the skepticism is as monumental as the mountain. But this skepticism only fueled Tom Whittaker’s resolve. “You see” Whittaker explains, “I share a common personality disorder with a lot of your readers. Tell them they can’t do something then that’s exactly what they are going to do. Tell them it’s impossible and look out!” In 1979 Tom Whittaker was following his star to become a world class mountaineer, kayaker and adventurer. The son of a British army officer, and native of Wales, he was working on his MA in Education at Idaho State University when his life was shattered.

Whittaker suffered life threatening injuries in an automobile accident outside of Pocatello, Idaho. He struggled to stay awake for over 5 hours refusing pain medication to convince the surgeon not to amputate his legs. He won that argument, or at least half of it, and has won many others since.

Long before his triumphant ascent of Mt. Everest, Tom started “giving back”. In 1981 he fostered the establishment of the Cooperative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group, the “HOGs”. This organization has made a dramatic impact on thousands of people who refuse to let a disability define their lives. True to the pioneering spirit of the “HOGS”, five severely disabled members accompanied Whittaker to Mt. Everest’s base camp in one of the most heralding events ever in the world of disabilities.

After summiting Mt. Everest and returning to Katmandu, Whittaker was greeted by a world media event heralding what many view as the greatest assent ever of the most lethal mountain in the world. At a rare ceremonial tea on the lawn of the Presidential Palace, hosted by the prime minister of Nepal, Tom was bestowed the title: “Bravest of the Brave, emperor of the disabled world”.

With that, Whittaker understood that the disabled people of Nepal, and potentially the world, would now look to him as not only an inspirational figure, but someone that
could assist them in their desperate circumstances.

After his accident and since summiting Mt. Everest, Whittaker has dedicated much of his life to enabling the disabled. His world travels have given him first hand knowledge ofthe challenges faced by amputees in non-industrialized nations.

In these countries there is every chance that someone with a severe physical disability, especially missing a limb, will face starvation as a beggar and provide no benefit to their family or society.

Disabled children are often killed or abandoned by their parents so that the family can survive. The difference in these societies is literally “a leg and a goat”. If the disabled person is provided a prosthetic limb to physically function in their society and families with a disabled child are given a goat to provide milk, cheese, and offspring, that same individual would then become a productive member of their family and community.

“I remember listening to JFK’s inaugural address some forty years ago in Wales” says Whittaker, “to those people in the huts and villages of the world struggling to break the bonds of mass misery; we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves” With this quote in mind, Whittaker set out to enable the disabled.

His first step was establishing the Wind Horse Legacy, a trust that benefits the disabled in Nepal. He then authored Higher Purpose which describes both his life’s challenges and his successful 3rd attempt to summit the tallest mountain in the world. The book has reached many, including Christopher Reeve who stated, “Whittaker’s story is for anyone who’s ever faced a challenge. He will inspire you to be better than you thought you could be.”

Whittaker is now embracing his most ambitious effort ever to serve the disabled community globally with the 7Summits Foundation. 7Summits was established to build prosthetic limbs directly in non-industrialized countries and provide the support services required to integrate people with disabilities back into their families and communities with “a leg and a goat”.

7Summits Foundation is a non-profit corporation established on December 3, 2004, which is also the international day for the disabled, by Tom Whittaker and Steven Fahle. The Foundation aims to provide the tools for people with disabilities to lead productive lives. Whittaker says “although we do rely on charitable giving what we are all about is earning our way in the world”. To this end, 7Summits develops and markets a suite of online leadership training products, the profits of which are used to fund the organization and its altruistic vision. www.7summitsfoundation.org