A double amputee made history by climbing the largest free-standing mountain in the world.
28-year-old Mandy Horvath, of Smithville, Missouri, is the first climber without legs to reach the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Horvath lost both of her legs in a train accident in 2014 when she was out camping with friends. Paramedics found her lying on train tracks with no legs after being hit by a coal train.
Horvath says she thinks someone had spiked her drink at the bar, leading to her not remembering anything or how she got on the train tracks.
Since the accident, Horvath has overcome many obstacles, including PTSD and alcoholism.
But at 19,000 feet, Mt. Kilimanjaro is her tallest obstacle yet.
“I’ve been told that seeing this, was what stopped some people from committing suicide, or made their day,” Horvath wrote on Instagram. “I’ve been honored to inspire other amputees and able bodied people to get up this ‘hill,’ in our backyard and other places in the world.”
Horvath hiked with the Ahsante Tour team, who helped her out whenever she needed it.
On the first day, they climbed through the rainforest with monkeys swinging from the trees above them, which was a sight Horvath will never forget.
During their climb, Horvath crawled on her hands for eight days, which made her hands extremely swollen at some points.
One of the team members, Julias John White, carried Horvath through the dangerous areas and was always by her side to help.
Since the climb, Horvath got a tattoo to to reminder her of the mountains she’s climbed, both literally and metaphorically. The tattoo reads, “Pole Pole,” which means “Slowly, slowly” in Swahili, and “Kazi mbele,” which is “Work forward.”
She says through her climb that she learned to “take things a little slower” and that “there’s always work ahead.”
In addition to climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, she was also the first legless person to summit Cerro Tusa, the world’s biggest natural pyramid.
For never giving up and inspiring others all over the world, Horvath was given the Amelia Earhart Award.
Click here to follow Horvath’s adventures on Instagram, and hear more of her inspiring story in the video below:
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