HERO veteran Hari Budha Magar has set off on his bid to become the first double above-the-knee amputee to conquer Mount Everest.

Cheering him on is Dame Joanna Lumley who describes Hari as 'indomitable'.

Hari, who left London this week hopes to repeat history by reaching the top of the world’s highest mountain in time for King Charles’ Coronation – just like Hillary and Tensing did when his mother was crowned in 1953.

Former Gurkha Hari, 38, has launched a massive fund raising campaign.

He wants to raise £884,900 – representing the height of Mount Everest in feet plus two zeros – for five veterans’ charities who helped him to live again.

Dame Joanna said: “Without legs he's literally taking on the toughest job on the planet.

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“At some part of our lives we all think we have been handed a bad card or had a raw deal.

“Hari has gone through the worst thing that could have happened to him as a soldier, as a father, husband, human being.

“Losing half his body, sinking into a slough of despondency, drinking too much, with the human spirit that burns in us all he switched it around and turned it into a plus.”

Hari, from Canterbury, Kent, served with the 1st Royal Gurkha Rifles.

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While on patrol in Afghanistan in 2010 he lost both legs above the knee in 2010 when an IED exploded.

He will be climbing during the King's Coronation and it will also be the 70th anniversary of when mountaineers Tensing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the top of the world during Queen Elizabeth's coronation.

Hari, whose story was first revealed in The Sun is taking on the incredible climb for the five veterans’ organisations that brought him back from the brink during his darkest hours.

Now he is calling on Sun readers to get behind him every step of his herculean climb,

Hari said: “My motto is “no legs, no limits. Everest is my childhood dream.

“This endeavour is not for me. It is a way I can give back around the world.

“I very proudly want to say thank you to support the charities who have helped me and continue to help me. I am now asking for Sun readers to get behind me.

“I'm very conscious it is a very difficult economic climate and every pound I really appreciated as it will change someone's life – just as it changed mine.”

For the next three to four weeks Hari will stay in Nepal doing final preparations including altitude acclimatisation until he begins his historic attempt in May using three pairs of specially adapted heated prosthetics – and bundles of grit.

The climb is being led by former SAS chief mountaineering instructor of 18 years Kris Thapa.

The charities he will be raising funds for are Team Forces, The Gurkha Welfare Trust, Pilgrim Bandits, Blesma and On Course Foundation.

Every foot he climbs will be an almost superhuman effort using specially made legs, short legs with a heating element in them and crampons – which he had to have specially made – attached.

He will have two extra camps on the mountain and extra supplies including food and oxygen are already being taken up on to the mountain and it's anticipated it will take between five and seven days for him to go up.

Hari aims to do much of the climb in the dark – as the ice is firmer in the night as it is colder.

He said: “It is a huge, huge expedition – much more so than a normal expedition. But I’m ready.”

Hari’s crowdfunder

HARI is climbing Mount Everest to raise funds that are desperately needed for five veterans charities – Team Forces, The Gurkha WelfareTrust, Pilgrim Bandits, Blesma and On Course Foundation.

He would love Sun readers to help him raise £884,900 – the height of Everest plus two zeroes.

Hari’s Crowdfunder appeal is at: https://crowdfunder.co.uk/p/harieverestappeal

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