Born in Glasgow in 1969 and is a Scottish mountaineer Jamie developed a love of mountaineering in his teenage years when he made successful ascents in the Alps, Dolomites and Yosemite Valley in California. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and became president of their mountaineering club. He then became an industrial rope technician, which involved abseiling off oil rigs, bridges and high buildings.
In January 1999 Jamie and his friend Jamie Fisher got caught in a storm after having climbed the north face of Les Droites in the Mont Blanc massif. Having made it up the north face the two men were beset by snow, winds of 90 mph and temperatures of -30°C for the following four nights. On the last night Fisher died of hypothermia. Despite having developed frostbite, Jamie survived the experience, being helicoptered off the mountain by the French rescue services.
Amputation of all four limbs was necessary to save Jamie’s life from septic shock. After he recovered from the surgery, he spent several months in rehabilitation. After his first walk (with no hands or feet) up Blackford Hill, Andrew took part in skiing, snowboarding, paragliding, orienteering, running, hill walking, caving, rock climbing and mountaineering. He has walked up Ben Nevis, raising £15,000 for charity in the process, run the London Marathon in 2001 raising £22,000 for charity, made many ascents of 4,000 m peaks in the Alps and climbed Kilimanjaro with three other disabled mountaineers raising £5,000 for charity.
Jamie’s story ‘Life and Limb’ is a MUST READ. According to Jamie his challenge for the future is his young daughter and twins who he has had with wife, Anna Wyatt.