Double amputee looks to Inglis for inspiration

By Carly Udy
Western Bay double amputee Chris Mathews hopes to conquer his own Mt Everest this year - mighty Mauao.
It may only be 232m above sea level but it will be just as much effort for Mr Mathews to reach its peak as it was for Kiwi climber Mark Inglis to reach Everest's two days ago.
"It would take a lot of energy and I've got burn scarring on my stumps that may be prone to blisters and stuff," Papamoa's Mr Mathews says.
In fact, Mr Mathews has yet to even walk around the base of Mauao - but he knows it will happen.
"He [Inglis] has made it achievable," Mr Mathews says of his "mentor".
On Monday, Mr Inglis became the first double amputee to conquer Mt Everest. He did it on two carbon-fibre artificial legs especially adapted for climbing.
Cold and weary, he was last night making his way to advanced base camp at 6400m altitude, his fingers suffering from mild frostbite and his leg stumps bruised and swollen after 40 days on the mountain.
Five years ago Mr Mathews, who owns flooring business Lighthouse Concepts Ltd, lost both legs below the knee, the fingers on his left hand and 2 1/2fingers on his right hand in a house fire in Taupo. Afterwards he spent 9 1/2months in rehabilitation in Waikato Hospital.
Since that life-changing event, each day has been made easier for him by the determination and incongruously upbeat attitude of people such as Mr Inglis and fellow amputees.
"Being closer to home and all, he's had the most impact on me. He's definitely a mentor. It's inspirational to know you can still do things that fully-abled people would do.
"I've read a lot of inspirational books over the years and [Inglis'] was one of them. He's amazing - setting himself another goal and going further than before."
In November 1992, Mr Inglis, then a mountain rescue guide, lost his legs to frostbite in a climbing mishap when a blizzard trapped him and countryman Phil Doole in an ice cave on Mt Cook for 14 days.
Matua double amputee and retiree, Patrick Barry, 70, said he thought Mr Inglis conquering Mount Everest was a "wonderful achievement". He said that any amount of physical activity put a great deal of strain on the area where a limb had been amputated.
"I would have doubted there'd be a double amputee in the world who would tackle that ... When he comes to Tauranga one day I'd like to meet him.
"I've followed him since Mount Cook. He has been amazing, it just shows sheer determination. I thought it was good when I won a snooker competition."
Tauranga double amputee and motivational speaker Tony Christiansen, who lost his legs in a train accident when he was nine, said you didn't have to be an amputee to be blown away by what Mark Inglis had done.
"It's really about going out and achieving things. So many people have potential but don't do anything. Anything is possible, whether you're an amputee or not."
In 2002 Mr Christiansen conquered his biggest challenge to date - a 10-day wheelchair trek up Tanzania's 5895m Mt Kilimanjaro.
Last night, Mark Inglis' wife Anne said from their Hanmer Springs home: "He's relieved, relieved that he's done it.
"It was just so cold and so dangerous at the top they just turned away and came back down straight away." She said her husband was taking it easy for the descent.
"He's going back down in a sled and then going to ride a yak for the last part of the way because of the bruising on the stumps."