Hello, my name’s Neil Heritage, I’m a double-knee amputee, and at the end of July 2018, I’ll be attempting to climb to the summit of the Matterhorn.

If I do it, I’ll be the first double-knee amputee to reach the top.

My Matterhorn climb signifies a huge step forward in my own recovery. I’m doing it because I want to show myself that I can, that I’m ready. But it’s also for others. It’ll help me to lead a course in alpine climbing for other wounded veterans. To help them with their own recovery – physically and mentally.

A bit about me

Having joined the army at the age of 16, straight out of school, I was injured by a suicide bomber in 2004 while I was working as an electronics specialist on a bomb disposal team in Iraq. I lost both my legs above the knee.

Since then, I’ve competed in triathlons, cycled across Europe, learned to ski, qualified as a scuba diving instructor, and was part of the first injured crew to row across the Atlantic, unsupported.

I was also honoured to receive The Henry Worsley Award from The Endeavour Fund (part of The Royal Foundation, set up by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry) last year for my determination and the work I’ve done to support and inspire others in their recovery.

About the Matterhorn challenge

The Matterhorn sits on the Swiss-Italian border, standing at 4,478 metres (that’s 14,692 feet) high. It’s climbed by as many as 2,000 people a year, but there have been over 500 fatalities, making it one of the world’s most dangerous peaks.

We’ll be climbing via the Lion’s ridge route (there are four in total). With a climbing grade of ‘very difficult’, it’s not the hardest climb in the world (that would be ‘extremely severe’) but it’s certainly not easy either. Its advantage is that it has more places where we can stop safely overnight if we need to, compared to the other routes.

The plan is to start on 30th July and climb up to the Carrel hut at 3,835 metres in the first two days. We’ll stay there overnight before continuing to a ‘bivi’ location (a safe spot where we can camp) on the third day. On the fourth we’ll reach the summit – we hope! It’ll then take two more days to climb back down.

Even the best laid plans can change though, so we’ve given ourselves 10 days to do the whole thing. Just in case.

But, before I can even start climbing, we need to raise £8,500 to pay for our equipment, travel and mountain guides. (We also have a separate JustGiving page where we’re raising money for a charity that’s close to my heart – Blesma The Limbless Veterans. You can find that here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/climb2recovery.)

If you think you might be able to help, I’d be over the moon (or Matterhorn).