Warren Macdonald (born 1965 ) is an Australian environmentalist, explorer,

mountain climber Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

, motivational speaker, and writer. Macdonald was born in Melbourne. In April 1997 he was climbing

Mount Bowen Mount Bowen is a peak in the Prince Albert Mountains, Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is high, standing north of the Davis Glacier and south-southwest of Mount Howard. The mountain is primarily composed of layers of sandstone, and the peak is ...

Hinchinbrook Island Hinchinbrook Island (or Pouandai to the Biyaygiri people) is an island in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It lies east of Cardwell and north of Lucinda, separated from the north-eastern coast of Queensland by the narrow Hi ...

when a giant boulder fell on his legs. Warren survived the accident thanks to Geert van Keulen, a Dutch traveller Warren had met the day before, who raced down the mountain for help after being unable to lift the boulder off Mcdonald's legs; hydraulic lifting equipment was needed to free Mcdonald. He spent two days out in the open and both his legs were

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indivi ...

at the thigh. Ten months later, Warren climbed Tasmania's

Cradle Mountain Cradle Mountain is a locality and mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. At above sea level, it is the sixth-highest mountai ...

using a modified

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

and the seat of his pants. A year later he climbed

Federation Peak Federation Peak is a Tasmanian mountain with a sharp spire-like shape, which marks the end of the Eastern Arthur Range in the Southwest National Park. The peak, approximately south-west from Hobart, was named after the Federation of Australi ...

. In February 2003 he became the first double-above knee amputee to reach the summit of

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

in Tanzania, Africa's tallest peak, while using specialty climbing prostheses developed by Hanger prosthetists Kevin Carroll and Chad Simpson. More recently Warren climbed

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granit ...

in the U.S. Sierra Nevada and the

Weeping Wall Weeping Wall may refer to: * Weeping Wall (Alberta), a geologic formation in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada * Weeping Wall (Montana), a geologic formation in Glacier National Park, Montana, United States * "Weeping Wall" (instrumental), a 1 ...

in Alberta, Canada. Macdonald has written a book called ''A Test of Will''. He told the story of the accident on

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

's programme ''

I Shouldn't Be Alive ''I Shouldn't Be Alive'' is a documentary television series made by Darlow Smithson Productions, a UK-based production company, that featured accounts of individuals or groups caught in life-threatening scenarios away from civilization in natu ...

''. The episode is titled "Trapped Under a Boulder". Macdonald has lived in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and in Australia. Warren currently lives in Fairmont BC.

References

External links

Official webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Warren 1965 births Living people Australian mountain climbers Australian explorers Australian environmentalists Australian memoirists Australian motivational speakers Australian amputees People from Melbourne