Scots mountaineer first quadruple amputee to climb Matterhorn

Scottish Mountaineer Jamie Andrew has made history by becoming the first quadruple amputee to reach the summit of The Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.

Quadruple amputee and mountaineer Jamie Andrew climbing in the Alps. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Jamie lost his hands and feet to frostbite in the French Alps in 1999 when he and a climbing partner were trapped for five nights on the icy summit of a mountain. His friend tragically died and Jamie underwent life-saving surgery to remove both his hands and feet.

Since then Jamie, of Edinburgh, has learned to walk again, taken up skiing and regulalry runs marathons.

For the last five years he has planned to climb the iconic 4478 metre high Matterhorn peak - and has just completed his challenge,

Jamie, who turned 47 during his climb, said: “Climbing the Matterhorn is a dream come true. When I tried the first time in 2013 it was just so hard and I reached 4200m before turning back. I thought then that I would never do it, but I persevered, I trained hard, I worked on developing new techniques for climbing without hands and feet.

“Ever since losing my hands and feet it has been my mission to prove that anything is possible if you truly set your mind to it.

“With the Paralympics approaching this month I hope that my ascent will do something to demonstrate that people with disabilities can achieve great things in their own right.”

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