By , ,
Published November 30, 2015
Members of the group "Walking With the Wounded" are on a mission to show the world, and their fellow wounded military colleagues, that anything is possible.
In April 2011, the team of four British military veterans made it into the record books, becoming the first team of unsupported war-wounded amputees to reach the North Pole. They say the major challenges were trekking through temperatures of -45, worrying about how prosthetics would hold up in such temperatures and the constant fear of frostbite.
Now they’ve set their sights on the top of the world, Mount Everest, in 2012.
The expedition will consist of two parts, but each will be challenging in its own way. The first is the seven-day trek from Namche Bazaar in Eastern Nepal to the base camp at about 17,700 feet. Up to eight severely injured British service personnel aim to overcome terrain that is daunting for even the fittest of trekkers.
Guy Disney, a right leg amputee and one of the British men who conquered the North Pole, says his disabilities will not stand in the way of his goals.
"It's really just to prove that if you have a bit of a knock in life, life goes on," he said. "You know you've got to push on with it, which I think, having been out here in New York the last few days, it really sums up the population over here. Yeah, there have been some tragic events, but life goes on."
Disney was wounded in July in Afghanistan's Helmand Province when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle.
One of the goals of the charity is to bring together U.S. and U.K. veterans who were injured in the line of duty. Prince Harry is a big supporter of the charity and even joined part of the North Pole expedition.
The organization's co-founder, Edward Parker, hopes the group can carry on the special relationship between the two countries as they embark on incredible journeys together.
"We are here to try to further the relationship between the American wounded and the British wounded," he said. "We fight alongside each other, we tragically die and are wounded alongside each other, but then we all rather go home and get on with the rehabilitation in our own backyard."
He, Prince Harry and others hope to change that.
After the group successfully reaches the summit of Mountain Everest they're off to the South Pole in 2013. "Walking With the Wounded" organizers hope to raise funds and partner up with a U.S. veterans organization to find new American recruits to join future expeditions.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/britains-walking-with-the-wounded-veterans-set-out-to-prove-anything-is-possible