End of a dream

A double amputee Gurkha who fought alongside Prince Harry in Afghanistan has been banned from climbing Mount Everest – despite training for five years. Hari Budha-magar, 38, pictured right and to the left of the Prince, above, served in the 1st Royal Gurkha Rifles, and lost both his legs in a bomb blast in April 2010.

The father-of-two, who lives in Canterbury, Kent, had dreamed of climbing the world’s tallest peak since he was a child, and would have become the first person with above knee amputations to do so. But his hopes have been dashed, after the Nepalese tourism ministry ruled that double amputees and blind people are to be banned from climbing to try to reduce death figures.