A-Z Of Great Scots
The inspiring story of quadruple amputee climber Jamie Andrew
ON a clear day in January 1999, Jamie Andrew and his best friend Jamie Fisher looked up at the blue sky and twinkling peaks of the Mont Blanc massif and changed their plans.
They were in Chamonix to go snowboarding, but this pair of keen mountaineers knew that such beautiful Alpine weather was too good to miss.
Instead, they would spend the next few days scaling the north face of Les Droites.
It was an uneventful climb until a savage blizzard rapidly engulfed the two men. They had no choice but to wait it out on the mountain. As the hours turned into days, they ran out of food and water as the temperature fell to minus 30°C.
Three days into their ordeal came the hopeful whirr of a helicopter, but conditions were still so bad that it was unable to rescue them.
Two more nights passed before tragedy struck and hypothermia killed Jamie Fisher. His friend, resigned now to his fate, sat beside him on the mountain and waited.
But morning arrived, and against the odds, Jamie Andrew was alive. Better weather meant the rescue helicopter returned to save him.
Jamie had to have his frostbitten hands and feet amputated. That, combined with the grief of watching a friend die would be too much for many others but for Jamie, a second chance at living was a physical and emotional journey he was ready for. In three and a half months, he had learned to walk again with prosthetic legs. And after just four months, he was at the top of Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. The following year, Jamie married his partner Anna and climbed Ben Nevis. Since then, he has run the London
“Better weather meant the ” helicopter could save him
Marathon, climbed Kilimanjaro, become the first quadruple amputee to reach the top of the Matterhorn, and more.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jamie climbed the height of Everest on his staircase, as well as doing steps in his garden and abseiling from his house, to raise money for the NHS.
His biggest and most rewarding challenge, however, has been fatherhood. He and Anna have three children and when it comes to being a role model, Jamie Andrew is one of the most inspiring dads around.