"When I say I climbed Everest what I really mean is … my team climbed Mount Everest."
Tom Whittaker rocked conventional wisdom when, as an amputee,
he created a world first by becoming the first person with a disability
to climb Mount Everest. Now he is aiming for a new world record; to
become the first amputee to conquer the highest peak on each of seven
continents.
Tom Whittaker, a world-class mountaineer, has pitted himself against
the North Face of the Matterhorn in winter, Mt. McKinley, and the nose
of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. On Thanksgiving Day of 1979, a car
accident shattered both his legs. Emergency surgery saved his life but
required the removal of his right kneecap - and the amputation of his
right foot. Tom Whittaker’s life had changed forever but his adventures
had just begun. Nineteen years later, Whittaker made history and stunned
the world when he became the first ‘disabled’ climber ever to conquer
Mount Everest.
This was his third attempt on that mountain. In 1995 he came
within 1,500 feet of the summit before being beaten back. On returning
to base camp, teammate Greg Child gave Tom a stone saying “I picked this
up on the summit and I want you to put it back where I got it from”.
The gauntlet was cast.
Three years later, after overcoming a lung infection, and
medical opposition, Tom’s perseverance and determination paid off. On
May 27th, 1998, Whittaker made a footprint on Everest and climbing
history by stepping onto the 'Roof of the World'. He returned the stone,
he redefined the possible, but more than anything his achievement
stands as a beacon to all who aspire to take a dream and turn it into
something great.
All this was captured in CBS’s documentary film, "Footprint on
Everest", which won the Teddy (Roosevelt) Award for best adventure
documentary. The film was re-tooled for “48 Hours" with Dan Rather as
“Against All Odds.”
Tom Whittaker’s experiences have taken him on a remarkable
journey of adventure and self-discovery. He proved to the world – and
himself – that the mind is more powerful than the body. He has battled
to raise awareness of diversity and the real abilities of people with
disabilities. Tom is convinced that the best way for people, no matter
who they are, to achieve their destinies is through well defined values,
self knowledge, clear goals and the ambition and drive to make it
happen. Whittaker’s wining formula has worked for him and his teams in
the most extreme environments on Earth. Of this you can be absolutely
certain; it will work for your people - Guaranteed!
Biodata: Tom Whittaker
With 35 years of experience in teamwork, leadership and motivation training Tom Whittaker is an educator and expert and human achievement. He has two Masters Degrees from Idaho State University’s College of Education and pursued Doctoral studies at Colorado State University in the School of Human Resources.
The son of a Welsh army officer, Tom Whittaker worked as a
schoolteacher in the UK, a rig diver in the North Atlantic and as a
nightclub bouncer in Gibraltar. He arrived in the U.S. having worked his
passage delivering a 65-foot yacht across the Atlantic. He has been a
program director for the Canadian Outward Bound Mountain School, he
founded and directed the Cooperative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor
Group at Idaho State University and for nine years, Whittaker taught
wilderness leadership studies as a professor at Prescott College in
Arizona.
Tom Whittaker became a naturalized American citizen in 1986.
Twenty years later he was inducted into “The Most Excellent Order of the
British Empire” by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace when he was
awarded an MBE, for service to people with disabilities and
mountaineering.
Tom Whittaker currently serves as the Executive Director of the
Call to Duty Foundation that is dedicated to integrating service men
and women from Iraq and Afghanistan back into the society they fought to
protect. He lives in the mountains of Arizona with his two young
daughters.
- Tom Whittaker was inducted into The Most Magnificent Order of the British Empire when he was presented the Member of the British Empire award at a royal investiture at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II.
- The Gene Autry Courage Award
- The Franklin D. Roosevelt Award: March of Dimes
- The ESPN "Superlative performance" Arete Award
- Freedom of the Human Spirit Award - International Center for the Disabled
- Just One Break, Inc. Role Model of the Year Award
Whittaker’s message of diversity went out in seven separate Scholastic News publications to some two million school children. An interactive curriculum 5th through 12th grades was subscribed to by 760 schools in the U. S. and Canada. Another million hits were logged on web sites that were maintained during the expedition.
Environmental Initiative
Tom Whittaker’s expedition retrieved more than 1,000lbs of garbage from the high camps and recycled it to the highest standards. They also retrieved 89 oxygen Cylinders that were shipped back to the US and sold to cover the cost of the initiative.
where head is held high and mind is without fear
Mmmuuuaaaaaahhhh :O
Hat's Off to You Tom <3 <3 <3 :D
