Double leg amputee gets MBE after Everest summit

Hari Budha Magar said he wants more people with disabilities “to do what they love”

A Gurkha veteran who lost both legs serving in Afghanistan has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Hari Budha Magar, who now lives in Canterbury, Kent, became the first double above-the-knee amputee (DAK) to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

He completed the 8,849m (29,032ft) ascent in 2023 to show people “anything is possible”.

The 44-year-old has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to disability awareness.

“I’m here to send a positive message around the world of hope and optimism,” said Mr Budha Magar.

The father-of-three joined the Royal Gurkha Rifles at the age of 19.

While serving in Afghanistan in 2010 he stepped on an improvised explosive device and lost both legs.

Mr Budha Magar said growing up in Nepal, disability was perceived as a sin from previous lives.

Hari Budha Magar during the King's Birthday Honours press conference and interviews at Admiralty House, London

“I wasted about two years not knowing what to do, getting depressed and trying to take my life," he said.

“Now my aim is to just climb the mountain and raise awareness of disability as much as I can.”

Mr Budha Magar successfully campaigned to the Supreme Court in Nepal to overturn a ban on people with disabilities climbing Everest in 2018.

Prosthetic legs for mountain climbing DAK amputees had to be specifically designed for Mr Budha Magar because at the time, they did not exist.

He now wants to climb the seven highest peaks on each continent, having already reached the summit of Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc.

The next challenge is to to summit Mount Denali, in Alaska.

Mr Mudha Magar is trying to raise £884,900 – the height of Everest “plus two 00s” - for five charities which supported him since losing his legs.