Teen With Down Syndrome Climbs Mt. Everest

Eli Reimer accomplishes historic feat with his dad
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 31, 2013 1:44 PM CDT

Talk about a high achievement: Oregon teenager Eli Reimer became the first person with Down syndrome to reach the base camp of Mt. Everest, People reports. Reimer made the 10-day, 70-mile trek alongside his father and even led their group: "It was humbling, it was inspiring, just an amazing moment," father Justin tells HLN. "We were the ones feeling our own sense of disability. It was no big deal to him; the rest of us were sucking wind."

Justin says he hopes Eli's accomplishment will inspire others with disabilities. "I think the number one thing is for anybody who has a child with a disability ... [is] to really understand that it's not outside of the scope of really God's goodness," he says. "Eli's life and the lives of those with disability have infinite worth and they can do great things." (More Mount Everest stories.)

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