Andrea Lanfri was 29 years old in 2015 when he was hospitalized for seven months – almost two of which were in a coma – due to contracting fulminant meningitis with meningococcal sepsis.
The infection was so severe that doctors were ultimately forced to amputate both of his legs below the knees, in addition to seven of his fingers.
But rather than despairing over his situation, Andrea saw it as an opportunity. Despite having lost his legs, he wanted to become a sprinter.
Within a year, Andrea joined the Italian national athletics team and subsequently won silver and bronze medals at the European and World Para Athletic Championships from 2016-18.
Since then, Andrea has turned his attention to his true passion, mountain climbing, and he’s now achieved the incredible feat of becoming the first multiple amputee to climb Everest.
Several amputees have climbed Everest in the past, such as Mark Inglis (New Zealand), the first double amputee to do it, and Gary Guller (USA), the first single-arm amputee, however, Andrea is the first person to do it with both leg and arm amputations.
“While I was in the hospital, climbing the most difficult peak you can find, I was strongly convinced that one day I would go back to doing the same things as before,” Andrea recalls.
“The mountain has always been part of me, even before the illness. Now it is my reason for living."
Andrea embarked on the Everest expedition with his friend, Luca. The pair decided to climb it in the “classic” style by approaching on foot, acclimatizing, preparing high-altitude camps, and when ready, attempting the summit.
However, before setting off for the summit, Andrea decided to set a record along the route to base camp: the fastest high-altitude mile run (LA4). ‘LA4’ is one of our impairment classifications; it means the challenger has a bilateral below-the-knee amputation. Andrea completed the mile in 9 min 48 sec, becoming the first holder of this record.
Ascending Everest proved to be incredibly challenging, but Andrea never considered stopping: “My inner sensations were always very positive,” he said.
Learning to climb with only the use of his thumbs and prosthetic feet had not been easy for him – improving his balance was important, but above all, Andrea says he had to develop great confidence in his prostheses while navigating mountain walls.
“I haven't invented anything new; I've just learned to do everything differently from before,” he explained. “I adapt the movements to my needs and possibilities.”
Andrea has multiple types of prostheses, including ones adapted for running, cycling, climbing, and walking on ice. While scaling Everest, he was able to switch between them to suit the varied terrain.
A fun moment is always when, in the cold, in the middle of the glacier, I climb and climb onto the ice with normal summer shoes, and all the people who obviously don't have my prosthetics look at me a little amazed and ask me: ‘Don't your feet feel cold?’
Andrea and Luca managed to complete their Everest adventure in two and a half months, finishing two weeks earlier than expected due to good weather.
“I felt great emotion when I saw the summit,” Andrea recalls. “It was obviously a different emotion from the others; I remember that my thoughts went back in time, thinking of all those training sessions and many other mountains climbed in order to reach the summit of Everest.”
After summitting, the hardest part was yet to come: the descent.
“Checking your prostheses when going downhill is always much more tiring and dangerous,” Andrea explained. Fortunately, he made his way down without any issues.
Andrea says his two Guinness World Records titles are a “great source of pride” for him, and he hopes his achievements can inspire others who’ve “hit a snag” in their lives.
He is now planning to climb North America’s highest peak, Denali in Alaska, before tackling more 8,000-m mountains around the world.
A documentary of Andrea’s journey, titled Everest With Three Fingers, is available to watch in Italian on Amazon Prime, with an English release coming soon. For now, you can watch the trailer below.
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