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Norman Croucher is a mountain climber who, despite being a double amputee with two prosthetic legs below the knee, set out to climb Cho Oyu, one of the world's 14 mountains which exceed 8,000 metres.
Born in 1941 and educated at Redruth Grammar School, both of his legs were severed below the knee by a train after he collapsed in a drunken stupor on a Wiltshire railway line in 1960. He became the first person fitted with artificial limbs to walk the 900 miles from John O'Groats to Lands End in 1969. Six months later he climbed the Jungfrau and the Mönch mountains in Switzerland and in 1972 he scaled the treacherous west flank of the Eiger. Two years later he also conquered the Matterhorn. Writing about him, Chris Bonington was quoted as stating "There is no one like him, his extraordinary achievements have earned him a place in climbing history." He has climbed many other mountains, including peaks in the Himalayas and these are comprehensively listed on his official website.
Twice voted Association of Disability and Rehabilitation 'Man of the Year' -in 1971 and 1978 - he was also awarded an OBE for his voluntary work with the disabled in 1977. In 1979 he was chosen from nominees from 121 countries as one of only three people in the world to receive an International Award for Valour in Sport. He was the subject of the BBC TV programme This Is Your Life in May 1976 and he is also available as a powerful Motivational Speaker for both company events and after dinner speeches.
In Popular Culture
In an early episode of the American TV series Lost, John Locke incorrectly identifies Croucher as having climbed Mt Everest, a feat later accomplished by New Zealand mountaineer and double amputee Mark Inglis.
Literature
- Croucher, Norman: Legless but Smiling. An Autobiography. Charnwood 2002. ISBN 0-7089-9336-2
- Funk, Gaby: Mit Prothesen auf die Berge der Welt. Der britische Bergsteiger Norman Croucher. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 9.11.2006, p. 71. Online (German).
External links
- Norman Croucher, mountain climber and motivational speaker - His official site
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