KATHMANDU, APRIL 22

The sky is the limit for differently-abled war veterans who have set the record in the Everest region this season.

The 20-member team comprised differently-abled British Army veterans including Matthew Charles Hellyer as well as Welsh rugby legend William Michael Phillips, who trekked to the base camp in support of Hari Budha Magar's Everest summit attempt, Pravat Adhikari from the Himalayan Ski Trek Pvt Ltd, said.

'This is the largest group of injured veterans ever to reach Mt Everest Base camp,' said Matt, who is also Chief Executive Officer at Pilgrim Bandits Charity, after arriving in Kathmandu from the base camp. The team includes military and blue light veterans, amputees, injured and suffering from MND who want to raise awareness and support for others.

According to Matt, the team had trekked to the base camp to show its solidarity with double amputee Gurkha veteran – Hari Budha Magar – who is attempting to scale the world's highest peak next month.

'We want to prove that nothing is impossible if you wish for it,' Matt, who was diagnosed with Kidney Cancer in 2013, and after treatment was forced to leave the military in 2014, shared. Matt is an Army veteran with over 25 years UK's military service. As a Parachute Regiment recruit he was awarded both the Prince of Wales Badge and Champion Recruit. He successfully passed UKSF selection and reached the rank of Warrant Officer in the SAS.

To do it without legs or with motor neurone disease or significant burns is quite exceptional. 'The trek was really challenging but it was a nice adventure and inspiration to all war veterans as well persons with disabilities,' team leader Matt, who served in every conflict over the past three decades completing over 400 operations under the British Army, said. 'We are very proud of Hari Budha Magar, who is taking the Everest summit challenge to change perceptions about disability,' Matt said, as the team prepares to leave for the UK this evening. The team spent 10 days (April 9-18) in the Everest region to make it to the base camp.

Along with team leader Krishna Thapa, double above-the-knee amputee Hari Budha Magar scaled Mera Peak in the Everest region to prepare for the Everest summit. Hari, former British Gurkha, aims to become the world's first double above-the-knee amputee to climb Mt Everest this season.

In support of Hari, Welsh rugby legend Michael Phillips along with the war veterans trekked to the Everest base camp. Former international rugby star, Mike Phillips was one of Wales' most formidable scrum-halfs. Mike Phillips has been capped ninety four times for his home country, making him the most capped scrum-half for Wales in history. Since making his debut for the side in 2003, Phillips has proved he is a valuable asset and team player, selected for the line up in all top level competitions including the Rugby World Cup and the Six Nations, as well as earned the Man of the Match title in the 2007 World Cup.

The team members who trekked to base camp include John Chart and Martyn Compton. The duo veterans were also part of the record-breaking skydiving in the Everest region last year when they dived out at 23,000 feet.

John Chart has become the first person affected with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) to skydive over Mt Everest. A former firefighter for 26 years, and a former world champion powerlifter, he was diagnosed with the MND in 2019. He lost the use of his arms with the progress of the disease.

Martyn Compton, who joined the British Army in 2000, was also injured in Afghanistan in 2006 when his troop of small tanks got ambushed. The tank Compton was in was blown in half and the rest of his crew were killed. He was shot twice in his right leg. He remembers little of his rescue, waking up four months later in the UK. In 2010, he was diagnosed with PTSD.

Double amputee Vincent Manley was also part of the EBC trekking, according to Adhikari. Vincent, a former Royal Marine, lost his legs to a roadside IED in Iraq in 2006. He was navigating in the lead vehicle of their 3 vehicle security convoy for a basic transit of a US Army officer when the incident happened. He now likes to challenge himself with physical activities to see what is possible as an amputee.

Among the members, MC holder Ricky Ferguson, who lost both his legs and an eye in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in 2010, was also part of the Bandits Charity trekking. Injured war veteran Matthew Maccoll, single leg amputees Craig Howorth, Richard Wilkinson and Jake Bartlett and single arm amputee Mark Brown as well as Lloyd Blanks, a former Captain in the British Army, also made it to the base camp. Lloyd had broken his back in a car accident some 14 years ago, shattering three vertebrae and has since had a long, slow and painful recovery.

'The injured veterans dug out blind and gave it their all. The route to Everest Base camp and beyond is a rocky and hilly trail, navigating it with missing limbs or late stage MND takes every ounce of strength,' Adam Elcock, a member of the trekking team, said. Adam, MBE, served for the British Army, working in a variety of roles with specialist units and organisations across the globe. He had worked extensively on operations in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Bosnia, Falklands, Iraq, Afghanistan, Brunei and other places. Other members in the team include David Bearman, Catherine Ammerlaan, Claire Moreton, Samuel Stantiford, Mason McDonald and Mark Nutter, according to Adhikari.