Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is no easy feat. Only 60% of people who set out to climb the mountain actually succeed. But that statistic didn’t make Andrew turn away from the challenge.
Andrew was born with cerebral palsy (CP). He has hemiplegia, with the muscles on his left side weaker than his right side, though he also has weakness on his right side as well. The idea to take on Kilimanjaro came to Andrew is a most unexpected way. While walking to work on day, Andrew fell and broke his hip.
“I was in hospital for two or three weeks and I thought if I can break my hip just walking to work, if I break it again I want to have a story attached to it.”
With his mind made up, Andrew reached out to Dave Pagden, a paralympian and the first European with CP to climb Kilimanjaro. Dave told Andrew to expect extreme muscle fatigue to affect his balance. And after a “practice” climb up Mount Meru where Andrew faced rough terrain and nose bleeds, he was ready to face the biggest challenge of his life.
With a walking stick, two guides, and sheer determination, Andrew set out to conquer Kilimanjaro. The climb up was treacherous and included a bad fall on the hip Andrew had previously broken. “On the second day I felt like giving up. It was a sheer nightmare because I was so tired.”
Still, he pressed onward and upward until he reached the summit where the first thing he did was congratulate the other climbers. With little time and energy for celebrating, Andrew began to make his way back down the mountain.
“The hardest part was coming back down,” he says. “On summit night, there is one picture of me where I just look dead.” Still, with his unwavering determination, Andrew finally completed his journey.
“The whole trek is a journey of faith. It is quite spiritual in many ways because you don’t know what’s going to happen. Part of climbing Kilimanjaro was about learning about my disability and learning about me.”
And because Andrew says he didn’t have role models growing up that were like him, that’s the slot he wants to fill for younger people in the future.
Way to go, Andrew!
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