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One day, as I lay on my hospital bed, I decided to do the unthinkable.

I wanted to show the world that I was unstoppable. I chose mountaineering as it was a bigger
challenge.

After being discharged from hospital, I met Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to scale

Mount Everest. I expressed my desire to train under Pal to be able to conquer Mt. Everest like
her. When Bachendri Pal heard this, she said to me, “Arunima, in this state, it is surprising
that you could even think about a challenge such as this. It means, that you have already
conquered it in your heart. Now, you just have to show it to the world.”

I stated training under Pal. Soon, I joined the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. For me,

the wounds were still fresh, the training wasn’t easy at all. But I
was determined. And in less than two years, I was ready
to start my Everest expedition, with Sherpa Neema
Kancha.

I reached the mountain from the road head to
the base camp. While others would take two

minutes to reach, I would take three hours!
When I reached the Hillary step, my sherpa

told me, “Arunima, let’s go back. Your oxygen
supply is running out.” Hillary step was just
a few steps away from Mount Everest. I

decided to go ahead come what may.
And in about an hour, I was at the top!

On 21 May 2013, at 10:30 am, I hoisted the

National flag at Mount Everest, becoming the
world’s first woman amputee to scale the world’s
highest peak. It took me 12 days to reach the summit.

I quickly recorded a video of my achievement at the peak. On my way back to the base, I
completely ran out of oxygen and fell down. Gasping for breath I somehow told my sherpa,
“If I don’t survive today, share my video so that my conquest inspires every person who

ever thinks of giving up.” Suddenly out of nowhere, Sherpa Kancha found a cylinder.
A British climber, who had decided to return without scaling the peak that day had thrown

away an extra oxygen cylinder. Sherpa Kancha quickly picked up the cylinder, and that saved
me.

My Sherpa kept saying that I was very lucky. But I strongly believe that luck favours only
those who have the passion to win.

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