Relaxed Inglis faces more painful surgery

Mark Inglis

Double amputee climber Mark Inglis has lost more body parts from his epic Mt Everest journey, but to this adventurer it is just an "inconvenience".

Speaking from Christchurch Hospital where he has undergone a series of painful operations to remove three blackened, frostbitten fingers down to the first joint, and flesh from one of his "mushed" leg stumps, Inglis played down the physical cost of the climb.

"Golly, I lost two legs years ago. So everything is relative, really. Sure, it's perhaps a month in hospital, but I haven't lost any of my important fingers.

"The privilege of being able to climb Everest and the achievement that you get out of it is far greater than this bit of inconvenience."

Inglis, whose climb was shrouded in controversy when his party walked past dying climber David Sharp and was criticised by Sir Edmund Hillary, is looking forward to getting home to his family in Hanmer Springs this week, but he will have to return to hospital.

His second leg stump must be "shortened" after injury caused by the impact of the climb - "really what I did was pretty much poke the bone right through the stump" - and he must wait and see how two other fingers recover from frostbite.

"Like all these things, it's wait and see. There's no hard and fast timeline or anything really. We are only just part-way through."

He still has use of his hands, but will be in a wheelchair for at least another couple of months before he can be fitted with new prosthetic legs.

"I go through about one set of legs every year or every 18 months anyway, so I was due for a new set. They will just be slightly different."

The "saga" over his climb had continued, but Inglis considers the controversy which followed David Sharp's death "just a media thing really".

"We have had fantastic support since we have been back in New Zealand ... and also fantastic support from all around the world really."

The next goal in his list of achievements is "to get up and walk again for a start".

Inglis said there would be a strong focus on his family and business in the near future.