Kelly Cartwright, a Paralympian from Australia, was in good spirits as she was carried down Mount Kilimanjaro after her prosthetic limb failed to fit during the grueling seven-day trip.
Kelly Cartwright won a gold medal in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, but she made headlines on Tuesday for a different reason.
When her prosthetic limb failed to fit after the seven-day trip, the 27-year-old athlete rushed to Instagram to share a photo of herself being carried down Mount Kilimanjaro.
‘Excuse the guy look and no shower for 8 days, but this is me coming down Kilimanjaro (since my leg didn’t fit after the 7-day trek!)’ she captioned the photo.
‘This was by far the best/hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m already planning my next adventure!,’ she said beside the hashtag #kilimanjaro on Instagram.
She beamed a broad grin as she threw her arms around the guide who carried her down, keeping warm in a black pullover with a Qantas emblem printed on the arm.
The paralympian couldn’t disguise her delight in completing the difficult accomplishment for the second time.
Lynzey contributed funds for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation in 2009, which helps more than 50 Australian hospitals and two in East Timor.
Lynzey had to wear a rudimentary hydraulic limb for the hike since her regular leg is prone to freezing at high altitude.
Kilimanjaro is not a climb for the faint of heart.
It is Africa’s tallest peak, with Uhuru Peak, at 19,340 feet, thousands of feet higher than Everest base camp, which takes climbers two weeks to reach.
A third of the 20,000 individuals who undertake the walk each year fail to complete it due to altitude or extreme mountain sickness.
Since her adolescent years, the inspirational actress has gone a long way.
When she was 15, she was forced to have part of her leg amputated after getting a malignancy called synovial sarcoma that couldn’t be cured with chemotherapy.
She hasn’t let her disability hold her back despite having worn a prosthetic limb since high school.
She won a remarkable gold and silver medal in the women’s long jump and women’s 100 meters, respectively, at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
In the 15th season of Dancing With The Stars, she traded in her sneakers for a pair of glittery high heels.
Samantha Harris and Tim Robards were among the competitors for the title of Wonder Woman.
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