"Legless Warrior" Summer: Climbing Mount Everest Bravely

Original title: "Legless Warrior" Xia Bojun: Bravely Climbing the Everest of Life

For 73-year-old Xia, attending the opening ceremony of Beijing Winter Paralympics is another peak in his life. Under the eyes of the whole world, he was wearing a jacket and holding a trekking stick. On the opening stage, he climbed and flew with the children.

In order to present a perfect performance at the opening ceremony, they often rehearse until the wee hours. "I am very happy to attend the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games at my doorstep. We have shown the world the elegance and mental outlook of the disabled in China. " Xia Bojun said.

Xia was born in Chongqing. At the age of seven, I followed my parents to Qinghai on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and lived there for nearly 18 years. He likes sports since he was a child. He used to be a football player in Qinghai Sports School. In the 1970s, Xia, who didn't know much about mountaineering, signed up for the national mountaineering team.

"In fact, I never participated in mountaineering at that time, just because I signed up for the selection and got a free medical examination."

Fate exposed him to mountaineering. Xia did not expect that the first mountain he climbed at 1975 was Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world.

"The first time I saw Mount Everest, I was deeply shocked. It's magnificent. You will find it very difficult after you get in touch with this sport. Ice collapses and blizzards are great tests for us. "

A bigger test is yet to come. ...

1975, the China mountaineering team reached the top of Mount Everest again, and Xia was one of them.

When he and his teammates climbed to an altitude of 8600 meters, they were caught in a snowstorm and had to retreat. Xia's feet were severely frostbitten on the road. A few days later, when he was lying in the hospital waiting for amputation, he heard the news that his teammates had reached the summit on the radio, which was both sad and happy.

"The experience of amputation was a very heavy blow to me. I think I'll have to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I once lost confidence in life and felt that I had fallen into the abyss. "

Until he met a German prosthetic expert and learned that he could not only walk, but also climb mountains, the light of hope seemed to be lit again.

In 2008, he returned to the base camp on the north slope of Mount Everest wearing a prosthetic leg to cheer for the Beijing Olympic torch relay on Mount Everest. That experience made him feel that his dream was not out of reach.

He didn't stop climbing.

20 14 arrived at the base camp on the south slope of Mount Everest in Nepal. However, there was a serious avalanche on the south slope, many Sherpa aerial workers were killed unfortunately, and the mountaineering road was also washed away. In 20 15, he came to the south slope base camp again, and a big earthquake struck Nepal, and his dream of Everest ran aground again. On 20 16, Xia made his fourth attempt. When he was less than 100 meters from the summit, a snowstorm stopped him.

In order to gain more experience in climbing snow-capped mountains with artificial limbs, we climbed the Mustag Atta at an altitude of 7546 meters, the Emerald Mount Everest at an altitude of 6 178 meters, the Siguniang Mountain and Balang Mountain, the main peaks of which are at an altitude of 6250 meters, and crossed the Tengger Desert on foot.

"The mountain will always be there. I think as long as I live, I will have a chance to come again. " Xia Bojun said.

Finally, in May, 20 18 and 14, Mount Everest was hit for the fifth time in summer, and the feat of reaching the top was completed.

"The experience of losing my legs was a turning point in my life. At first, I hated Mount Everest. It took my feet and experienced the ups and downs of my life. I fell in love with Mount Everest. It has strengthened my dream of climbing the peak of my life and my courage to overcome difficulties, making my life more fulfilling. " Xia Bojun said.

Now, this elderly man is passing on his dreams and persistence to more young people. With the help of the government, he went to colleges and universities to share his experiences with college students, and interacted with primary school students in his spare time to tell his stories. ...

"It is the power of sports that makes me brave the difficulties and move forward forever." Xia Bozhen said: "I don't quite agree with' man can conquer nature'. It was not that I conquered Mount Everest, but that Mount Everest accepted me. Man is too small in front of nature, and nature will never be conquered, but man's fate can be conquered. "

(Li Linhai)