A tremendously courageous and resilient mountaineer, Jamie Andrew has overcome more than what the average person might encounter in their lifetime. Following some extreme weather conditions on a climbing expedition in 1999, which saw Jamie and his climbing partner caught for five days in a terrible storm, Jamie lost both his arms and legs to frostbite.
The Scottish mountaineer believes that the only limitations preventing people from reaching their full potential are self-imposed. He aims to encourage people to discard the misconceptions that hold them back from being “all they can be”. Just three and a half months after losing his feet and hands Jamie was walking on prosthetic legs and washing, dressing and feeding himself. The motivational speaker was also back at work as Manager at the company that employed him before his fateful climb.
Far more than just doing fine, Jamie has not been held back by his prosthetic limbs, and he has completed several sports challenges, including skiing, running (he completed the London Marathon), swimming, caving, snowboarding, sailing, paragliding and orienteering. However, as he recalls, "... it was returning to mountaineering that was to provide the greatest goal and the biggest challenge". He has scaled many of the world's most challenging peaks including Britain’s highest mountain Ben Nevis (an achievement that was recorded for the BBC documentary Climb Back), the Cosmiques Arete on L’Aiguille du Midi, Mont Blanc du Tacul, The Monch, the famous Mount Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc itself.
Jamie has shared his amazing story through his book Life And Limb and in doing so raised many tens of thousands of pounds for various charities, including one providing prosthetic treatment to children in Angola. As a motivational speaker, Jamie mixes his riveting story of courage and personal triumph, with self-deprecating humour. Referring to his sailing expeditions, Jamie says: “When the call comes out ‘All hands on deck!’, I am the only crew member who can legitimately stay down below in my bunk!” The ideal speaker for any event, Jamie can inspire any audience through his extreme tales of danger, courage, determination and humanity.
