Former British Gurkha and double-amputee in Kent awarded MBE
Nepalese alpinist, Hari Budha Magar, has been awarded an MBE for his contributions to disability awareness.
Last updated 10th Dec 2024
Former British Gurkha soldier and double-amputee Hari Budha Magar has been awarded the prestigious Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his contributions to disability awareness.
An ambassador for the Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT), Budha Magar has also received the Inspiration Award at the Soldiering On Awards 2024 through a public vote.
Budha Magar, 43, made history as the world's first double above-the-knee amputee to successfully climb Mount Everest.
His ascent on May 19, 2023, under the "Conquering Dreams" expedition, aimed to raise awareness about disability and demonstrate that physical impairments need not be limiting.
He achieved this feat using specially engineered short prosthetic legs.
Hari told Greatest Hits Radio he's currently "climbing the tallest peak in every continent" to raise awareness to disability.
"I'm now climbing seven summits. I've climbed four, I've got three to go. The next one is in Argentina in February - the tallest mountain in South America."
"The more that we challenge, the bigger the challenge is, the more we learn.
"Simply, I live now for future generations. There's 1.3billion disabled people that live in the world, that's about 16% of the population. We can make their life better."
Hari Budha was born in 1979 in a village in the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal.
He was born in a cow-shed at an altitude of 2,500m in a remote part of Western Nepal.
Hari joined the British Army via the Royal Gurkha Rifles when he was 19..
He lost both his legs in April 2010 after stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) while serving alongside Prince Harry.
After challenging discriminatory mountaineering rules in Nepal, as of May 2023, he is the first and only ever double above-knee amputee to summit the world's tallest mountain, Mount Everest.