MOUNT Everest was the goal for an intrepid man from Leamington – and he’s now sharing his journey with the world.
Max Stainton-Parfitt, who suffers from cerebral palsy, became the first disabled person in the world to reach Everest Base Camp on horseback back in 2018
And the now 32-year-old’s epic challenge has been made into a documentary film titled My Everest, which will be released in cinemas on April 28.
Max’s condition makes it difficult for his body to retain heat and he is unable to walk without assistance, so making the trip to the 5km high Base Camp was incredibly challenging.
Max, who grew up in Leamington and later moved to London to pursue a career in finance, set up the Riding Everest project to challenge perceptions of disabled people and to raise funds for the Riding for the Disabled Association’s (RDA’s) National Training Centre at Shrewley in south Warwickshire.
Max first attended RDA’s Stratford centre aged five, and says it allowed him to find confidence and socialise in ways otherwise impossible to him.
Max, who studied at Warwick University, told The Observer: “As a child, RDA was one of the first consistent therapies I had. It not only provided regular therapy for my condition, but it allowed me to take part in a sport I could participate in and interact with a different set of people and make new friends.”
Against the backdrop of the Himalayas, Max, supported by friends, put his body through incredible pain and was forced to dive deep to complete the challenge.
My Everest invites the audience to understand Max’s world as a disabled man, and how his drive to defy society’s expectations led him to put his life on the line, and by doing so, question why he felt he
had to prove himself to the world.
RDA, which has its is a charity that provides therapy to around 25,000 children and adults with disabilities through horse riding all over the UK.
