A 15-year-old US boy has possibly become one of the
first person ever with Down syndrome to have scaled the Mount Everest -
the world’s tallest mountain.
Eli Reimer is also
possibly the first American teen -- with the syndrome -- to have made
the exceptional ascent last month, when he reached a staggering 17,600
feet after nearly two weeks of walking.
After walking
for around 113 km, Reimer triumphed when he reached one of two base
camps on the world’s tallest mountain, ’New York Daily News’ reported.
Eli’s
father, Justin Reimer, joined the teen last month along with their team
setting out to raise money for the family’s charity, The Elisha
Foundation.
“It was surreal,” Reimer told US news channel HLN in an interview.
“To
be standing there at that place and see the smile on Eli’s face and the
sense of accomplishment that he had, and the fact that his health was
better than any of us at that point ... it was humbling, it was
inspiring, just an amazing moment,” said Reimer.
At
least one more person with Down syndrome is known to have reached the
base camp -- a 35-year-old man from the UK, Justin Reimer told TIME
magazine.
The father-son adventurer duo climbed nearly 17,600 feet to the mountain’s south base camp in Nepal.
Eli’s doctors gave him the thumbs-up to attempt the endurance-testing task, Reimer told the channel.
“We monitored his blood (saturation), oxygen saturation levels as we went up (the mountain).
“And
his were consistently, significantly higher than everyone else’s to
where he was actually leading us on the trail. Eli was like our guide on
this whole thing,” Reimer said.
“For anybody who has
a child with a disability or who is impacted in some way ... the
disability is not a limitation,” said Justin Reimer, adding that Eli’s
life “and the lives of those with disabilities have infinite worth.”
Source : The Hindu Business Line
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