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Charlie Linville, a 29-year-old former Marine staff sergeant who lost his leg and several fingers during service, is poised to begin one of the world’s most challenging physical feats: climbing Mount Everest.
The Boise, Idaho, man is now in Nepal and headed to Tibet to take on the 29,035 foot mountain, recorded as the world’s largest. His plans are to use a specially designed metal foot and climbing boot to make the journey, International Business Times reported.
And why is he doing it?
“My message is anything is possible,” he said, the Associated Press reported. “It is just not be being an amputee, but anyone sitting on the couch around the world that has problems – you can overcome life. It is just how determined you are.”
This isn’t Linville’s first try at the mountain. Last year, he was at a base camp 17,595 feet up the peak, when an avalanche killed 16 Sherpa guides.
This time, he’s picking a different starting point – from the northern Tibetan side, AP reported. He’s making the climb with Heroes Project’s founder Tim Medvetz and eight teammates.
“The only difference between me and any climber on the mountain is that I am missing one limb and I have to deal with metal,” he said, AP reported.
Linville was an explosives expert on a mission in Afghanistan in 2011 when a bomb exploded. Two years later, his right leg was amputated due to the injury.
