Spencer West, whose legs were removed at the age of five, following a muscle disorder, has since dedicated his life to reaching for the stars in every way possible...
Despite being told by doctors he would never be able to walk or be a contributing member of society he refused those negative labels and has since showed that attempts to pigeon hole him as incapable were wrong.
He has since written a book about his life Standing Tall: My Journey, and has developed a successful career as a motivational speaker, raising expectations for others...as well as being a committed fundraiser and supporter of the charity Free The Children.
However, on Monday he will take on perhaps his greatest challenge yet completing a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro with the support of his friends... David Johnson and Alex Meers...
By scaling Mount Kilimanjaro he is showing others, literally in this case, how they too can reject attempts to limit their achievements and aim for the stars...
Whilst hoping to inspire others to redefine the possibilities of their own potential, Mr West is also raising money for the international development charity, Free The Children, that supports development projects in Africa.
Mr West, along with his two friends, is raising money for Free The Children's clean water programmes in Kenya.
The inspirational campaigner is a regular visitor to Kenya, which is recovering from drought... As a supporter of Free The Children he wanted to do something to raise funds for the charity and raise its profile, especially after meeting children in Africa growing up in adversity...
"Throughout history, we as a global community have faced situations that have been deemed impossible... Nothing else to say. Nowhere to go but up..." he says...
Free The Children is an international development charity founded in 1995 with headquarters in the US, UK and Canada.
The charity's thousands of youth volunteers support projects relieving poverty, disease and neglect.
Free The Children now has more than one million youth workers involved in development projects; primarily involving education, in 45 countries...
The charity's founders and supporters believe passionately that young people should be supported to fulfil their potential and contribute to positive, social change in their communities... |