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Defying Limits, One-Handed Climbing to a Guinness World Records title
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Jul 1, 2024
Witness the extraordinary journey of a climber with one and a half hands setting a new Guinness World Records title by climbing 374.85 meters one-handed.
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0:00
This is an official Guinness World Records attempt
0:05
To set this record, I need to climb a minimum of 200 metres on a wall, one-handed
0:10
I have one and a half hands, and my little arm is actually my dominant one on the wall
0:14
so for me, it's learning how to climb left-handed only, learning how to readjust my balance, how to generate power
0:20
and to really work with what is essentially my weaker side. The fact that she's got one hand is not really her disability
0:28
It's her illnesses. I had cancer when I was 23. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
0:33
which is that my joints can spontaneously dislocate. Even walking a few steps, I can sprain my ankle
0:38
Or getting out of bed, I can pop a hip, which is not fun. I also have a range of other issues
0:43
from asthma, Celiac disease, life is complicated. The last four weeks have been slightly nightmarish
0:50
I came down with bronchitis, lost about 50% of my lung capacity
0:54
ended up in accident and emergency because I took the wrong medications. Literally walking the 10 metres to another room
1:02
was too hard at one point. Clearly, training for this attempt has been..
1:08
Well, it had to get put on hold. I mean, I couldn't even make it to the climbing centre
1:12
Are you ready? Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready. Three, two, one, go. The mental focus on the wall was enough
1:31
to make me forget that I was ill. I was a normal person on the wall, I was just a climber
1:36
And for the first time in a very long while, I felt like a person rather than as a chronically ill
1:41
disabled person. I've been competing now for six years, off and on
1:45
I reached second in the UK in my category in the first year I competed
1:49
And since then, I've been sort of ranging second, third and fourth, depending on the year
1:53
One minute. Come on, you've got this. Come on. Come on. Smashing it
2:07
Come on. APPLAUSE The record to beat was 200 metres
2:19
The record to beat was 200 metres. And you achieved 374.85 metres
2:28
which means it's a new Guinness World Records title. So I needed 28 for the record and the title
2:34
Today I was aiming for 51 runs, and I did 51 runs
2:39
Getting a Guinness World Records title is... It's incredible. I mean, I never imagined that this would be possible
2:48
But I do have a slogan in my life, go and keep believing in your impossible
2:52
so I guess I've just done that
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