A London mountaineer who was caught up in the Nepal earthquake has returned to Everest in a race to lead the first combat amputee to the summit.
David O’Brien, 48, from Kensal Rise, is guiding a group of 12 adventurers up the north face. Among them is Chad Jukes, 31, a former US army reserve sergeant, who lost part of his right leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006.
They are hoping to reach the summit before Charlie Linville, 30, a marine who also lost a leg in Iraq and is making a third attempt to conquer Everest with another group. Mr O’Brien, who runs an adventure company, spoke to the Standard from Base Camp before the group started their week-long ascent.
He said: “They’re both incredibly inspirational people. I hope we can get Chad there first but we won’t do anything that will put anyone’s safety at risk.
"It’s just amazing to be part of history like this.” It is Mr O’Brien’s fifth Everest exhibition, and the first time he has returned since he was caught up in the devastating earthquake in Nepal in April 2015 that killed more than 8,000 people.
He was on the north face when an avalanche triggered by the quake killed 22 climbers on the south side. He said: “It was a massive quake. We made our way down as quickly as we could.”
His group hopes to reach the summit tomorrow. Mr Jukes has said he wants to climb the mountain “to say, ‘I have one leg, I have post-traumatic stress disorder, I have a traumatic brain injury, but I can climb Mount Everest’”.
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