When Private James Rose, 32, lost both his legs due to an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan in 2009, he developed PTSD.
So he threw himself into sports such as volleyball and wheelchair basketball and even won some Invictus Games medals in the process.
The latest feather in his cap was conquering Mount Kilimanjaro and becoming the first double above-the-knee amputee to do so unaided. He trained intensively for six months in “stubbies” or extremely short prosthetic meant for above-the-knee amputees to achieve the feat.
Watch him make the greatest achievement in the video below.
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Video credit: Rumble
Enduring 15-hour days and five days of climbing, James finally reached the summit of the 19,341ft mountain earlier in the month.
James, from Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, said: ‘The entire time, I was basically on my hands and knees crawling.
‘I would be crawling up different parts of Kilimanjaro for around 12 hours a day, eating things like pasta and rice.
‘The first four days were regular hours — from around eight until eight.
‘But the last day was the hardest because the terrain on the final ascent was mostly gravel — so the earth was slipping away from under me.
‘A couple of times, I really didn’t think that I’d make it. But I got my head down, had a good team around me, and got on with it.
‘Something clicks inside you when you feel nearly defeated, and I’m relieved that I had the strength to keep going.’
While James was on a foot patrol in Gereshk in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on November 2009, they failed to detect an IED and James inadvertently stepped on it.
His right leg was instantly torn off. Doctors tried to save his left leg but they ended up performing two above-the-knee amputations.
In April 2014, James was medically discharged from the military and went on to marry his wife Naiomi.
James competed at the Invictus Games and managed to win silver and bronze medals in sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
He got the inspiration to scale Kilimanjaro after he saw an episode of Extreme Everest with Ant Middleton.
After watching the episode, he posted on Facebook how the show inspired him which prompted a comment from his best friend Darren Young who said, “Hey, why don’t we climb Kilimanjaro?”
James said: ‘At first, I wasn’t really sure if he was serious or not. But after he’d planned the route for a couple of months, I thought about it more.
‘I decided that climbing Kilimanjaro would be a great way of encouraging others suffering from mental health problems to come out of their shell.
‘After my experience overseas, I’d spent several years rehabilitating, and one way of doing that was throwing myself into sports.
‘So the jump from all that to mountain climbing wasn’t actually too drastic.’
As part of his training for the trek, he spent two hours of cardio and weights five times a week as well as spent time in an altitude generator at home for five hours at a time each day.
He also practiced climbing in the Lake District with Darren and crawled up Helvellyn (3,117ft).
On September 8, 2019, they finally left for Tanzania and two days later, they started their epic climb with five mountain guides.
They had to go through 30 C temperatures during the day and -10 C at night as well as blistering winds and monkeys.
James strictly followed a high-protein, high-carb diet mainly composed of pasta, rice, and chicken.
James said the panoramic view at the top was ‘one of the most awe-inspiring sights that I’ve ever seen in my life.’
He said: ‘It looks a little like when you’re in an airplane and you’re coming into land — you can see towns and roads ahead. Well, it was a bit like that, but more beautiful, and so tranquil.’
‘I openly talked of giving up, and climbing back down — or letting the guys from my team aiding me, basically, carry me.
‘But I didn’t want that to happen. I’d set myself the goal of becoming the first double above-the-knee amputee to climb Kilimanjaro unaided.
‘And I’m so glad I persevered — because otherwise, I’d have sunk into a dark hole.’
Replaced!