Arunima Sinha: Everest's First Female Amputee Climber

This is the story of Arunima Sinha, who became an inspiration for people around the globe. Arunima Sinha became the epitome of courage when she conquered Mount Everest & became World’s First Female Amputee to Climb the Highest Peak of the World.

The 34 year old has now become the first female amputee to climb Mount Vinson, the highest peak of Antarctica.

About Arunima Sinha

Born on 20 July 1989 in Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, Arunima Sinha is an Indian volleyball player, mountaineer, and the world’s first female amputee to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus, Mount Kosciuszko, Mount Vinson, etc. In addition to this, she has also climbed Asia’s pride mountain, ‘Mount Everest,’ the earth’s highest mountain above sea level with 8,848.86m of elevation.

In 2011, at the age of 23, Arunima Sinha met with an unfortunate incident. She was pushed from a running train by a few robbers. She got severely injured and had to get amputated below the knees with rods in the right leg. There were numerous fractures in the spinal cord but with a strong belief in herself, she overcame all the darkness and shined bright yet again.

Early Life and Education

Arunima Sinha was born in an Indian family in Panda Tola, Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. Her father served as a loyal, hardworking engineer in the Indian army, whereas her mother devotedly worked as a supervisor in the health department. Arunima Sinha has an elder sister and a younger brother.

She did her schooling at Government Girls Inter College, Akbarpur, Uttar Pradesh, followed by graduation in Mountaineering course from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarakhand. In addition to mountaineering courses, she has also completed an MA in Sociology along with LLB.

Climbing the Mount Everest

Arunima Sinha’s life goal was to climb every continent’s highest peak and proudly hoist India’s national flag there. With faith in her mind and passion in her heart, Arunima Sinha accomplished the most difficult task and stepped up to fulfill her favorite dream.

When Arunima expressed her desire to climb the Peak, a psychiatrist was sent to her to see if she had any signs of Trauma. Where people take months to get accustomed to prosthetic legs, Arunima again displayed her courage by walking in just 2 days. She proved that failure is only in the head, if you have the will power you can achieve your goals.

Soon after recovering from her injuries, Arunima joined Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarakshi to follow what she dreamt of. With her willpower & passion to achieve her goals she pursued her training with all her might.

She trained vigorously under Bechandari Pal for 18 months, where she crossed all the hurdles that came in her way. Arunima achieved what was impossible for many; she climbed up on the top of the world.

Awards and Recognition

There is no doubt that Arunima Sinha is a living influencer and an inspiring figure who has consistently elevated India and its pride. She has received numerous awards and recognition and is on her way to receiving even more. The following are the awards she has currently received:

Padma Shri Award (2015)
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award (2015)
First Lady Award (2016)
Malala AwardYash Bharti Award
Rani Laxmi Bai Award

She now dreams to climbing the highest peaks on each continent around the world & sharing her story through her book. Arunima has set up a great example of courage & bravery that has etched her name in history.

Arunima proved that if we are focused on our goals then no hurdle big or small, is impossible to cross.