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'It was quite scary' - Colchester amputee who has no limits conquers Kilimanjaro

Triumphant – Chris Harriss successfuly scalde Kilimanjaro on Saturday before heading back to Colchester <i>(Image: Chris Harriss)</i>
Triumphant – Chris Harriss successfuly scalde Kilimanjaro on Saturday before heading back to Colchester (Image: Chris Harriss)

EVEN for the able-bodied, Mount Kilimanjaro is known as one of the toughest in the business.

Standing at 19,340ft, it’s nearly five times the height of Ben Nevis and the highest mountain in Africa – but adrenaline junkie Chris Harriss likes a challenge.

Now 34, Mr Harriss had the bottom of left leg amputated in 2018, four years after suffering a motorcycle accident.

After years of operations, Mr Harris finally decided to have the amputation – not that it’s deterred him from doing all the exciting things life has to offer.

Gazette: Tribute – Chris Harriss said the hardest part of the experience was being unable to talk to his daughter every day
Gazette: Tribute – Chris Harriss said the hardest part of the experience was being unable to talk to his daughter every day

Tribute – Chris Harriss said the hardest part of the experience was being unable to talk to his daughter every day (Image: Chris Harriss)

If it’s not something to get his pulse racing, the 34-year-old doesn’t seem to want to go near it, and it was only in January Mr Harriss felt it was time to press on with his next big challenge.

He said: “I would probably say it was three months ago I said to myself it was time to do something else quite big.

“[As preparation] I would probably hike three to four times her week and mimic what I will be taking up the mountain.

“I weighed a rucksack of 10 to 15 kilos and hiked around wetlands and beaches, and did a lot of swimming as well.”

Though he trained on his own – often with an altitude mask to replicate a lack of oxygen – Mr Harriss climbed Kilimanjaro with a support crew, as do all mountaineers.

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This is because tents, sleeping bags, food, oxygen bottles, and medical kits can’t be carried by one man alone.

“I don’t think anyone can prepare you for altitude sickness," he said.

“On the first day, I was sick eight times [and] I was always told your body will go through hell and you just push yourself through it, but it was quite scary because it’s dangerous.

“My vision was getting burry and I was just running on fumes – I thought I was going to give up so many times.”


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Even at the summit of the mountain last Saturday, Chris hadn’t the time to take in the view – hikers can rarely spend more than ten minutes at the top due to a lack of oxygen.

But the toughest of all for Mr Harriss was being unable to see his 15-year-old daughter.

“We’re very close – we don’t go a day without speaking," he said.

“Not hearing her voice, that hurt the most.

“That was the mad part, not being able to see her.”