All of us have probably at least once in our lives gone trekking or hiking. The excitement of enjoying the views and soaking up the fresh air gives us a lot of joy, one which no experience can match up to. Now, imagine doing that without legs! Yes, you read it right.
Azrulkhan Hasrullah, who is fondly called Adam, has been moving around without both his legs that were paralyzed from the waist down due to polio at a young age. The doctors wanted to amputate his legs so that he could walk with prosthetic legs, but he declined. Once he finished his graduation – a degree in mass communication from the International Islamic University of Malaysia, he began to ponder over his options for the future.
That’s when he suddenly stumbled upon many on Facebook clicking selfies from a hill or hiking to one, after which he was determined to do so himself.
Adam, who is a Malaysian citizen, residing in Kuala Lumpur, took off his brave journey by conquering the Mount Broga, one of the best places to hike within easy range of the Malaysian capital. It took him three attempts to finish the climbing all the peaks. “When I was nearly at the top, the most amazing thing happened. The other hikers reached their hands out to me. When I finally arrived at the peak, everyone cheered. That was one of my best moments while hiking,” the young Malaysian said in an interview.
That particular climb lifted Adam’s spirits, who then went on to challenge himself to climb up to the highest peak of Crocker’s Range, Mount Kinabalu, which he eventually did in January 2016.
Two years later, Adam embarked on what would go on to become the biggest moment of his life. According to reports, he took off from Kathmandu on May 1 and less than three weeks later, Adam reached the Everest Base Camp at 12.30 pm local time (2.45 pm Malaysian time) by using only his hands.
Meet Thor: The man who ‘hammers’ through obstacles to travel to every country without flying
The Everest Base in the south is at an altitude of 17,598 feet, which you can access through Nepal. The north base camp can be accessed through China, for which you need a permit from the Chinese government. The North base camp has been closed for tourists since February 2019.
The first-ever person to climb the base camp with only hands, Adam said that he did not have any physical struggles while climbing the base camp, but the only problem he had was the very cold weather as the temperatures were -5 to -7 degrees Celcius and the lack of oxygen was an additional issue. He covered almost six kilometres in six to 10 hours a day.
Meet Baderkhan, whose will to travel is ‘powerful’ despite holding the world’s weakest passport
In this video by travel blogger Drew Binsky, Adam takes us through his adventurous journey:
While it is indeed hard to imagine hiking up the Everest base camp without legs, this guy lived it and deserves every ounce of respect.
Comments by Journo Travellers