Jamie Andrew

A ferocious storm trapped him and his climbing partner on the north face of Les Droites for five terrible days.

By the time the helicopter rescue team arrived, Jamie's partner was dead and Jamie, himself, suffering from severe frostbite and hypothermia, ended up having his hands and both feet amputated.

More than six years on, Jamie Andrew is back mountain climbing, has written a book about his accident and rehabilitation and has begun carving a niche for himself as a motivational speaker in the business and education sectors.

Based in Scotland, where he lives with his wife and daughter, Jamie explains that the charity fund raising events he became involved in after the accident led to speaking invitations and requests to write articles.

His book, 'Life and Limb', published in 2004, brought even more invitations. Now, as well as running his own rope access company, he earns a living addressing business conferences and working with schools.

Jamie explains: 'Less than a year after the accident, I was back with the company I had previously been employed by, working in a management capacity - once I'd learned how to handle the telephones and computers. However, climbing events, marathons and other charity fundraising I was becoming involved in were generating so much publicity and so many speaking invitations, that I could no longer do it all in my spare time.'

'What had happened to me and how I had dealt with it seemed to inspire and motivate both youngsters and adults. And I had discovered that talking about it also made me feel better. So I decided to leave my job and go my own way. There was no way I was going to have a normal life again and I wanted to do something interesting with it.'

Jamie's 'normal life' as an industrial abseiler before the accident involved, he explains: 'Going off tall buildings, bridges, oil rigs - anything high and difficult to access - in order to carry out construction and maintenance tasks.'

He agrees that his physical fitness was partly responsible for his surprisingly swift recovery. Less than four months after the accident, for instance, he had learned to walk on prosthetic legs. 

'But I was mentally fit before the accident as well' he points out 'and having a positive mental attitude was, without a doubt, much more important to me during the healing and rehabilitation process than my physical state.'

'When I talk to people, that's the message I want to get across to them; that with the right attitude, you can achieve anything.'

Although Jamie's speaking engagements take him all over the UK, most of his school work is in Scotland where he is mainly invited to address 5th and 6th Year groups.

'I much prefer talking to kids' he says. 'It's a more interesting experience for me than the business engagements and the feedback is always so positive. Teachers say that even pupils who are notoriously difficult to get through to respond well; so that’s very rewarding.'

'With school visits, the presentation is basically my story: the accident, waiting to be rescued; the amputations and rehabilitation; then all the things I've managed to achieve since then.'

'I try to make the story as gripping and entertaining as possible because if you're going to engage pupils of that age, that's what you need to do.'

'Because I talked about the accident with family and friends very early on, I've completely dealt with what happened. So telling the story to an audience isn't like reliving it over and over again. I wouldn’t be able to do that. Now I can tell the story in what I hope is a rich and emotional way but detached from the actual reality of what I went through up there.'

'The most rewarding part of talking to school groups is the questions and answers session at the end. Kids will ask things that adults would never dream of. They're not afraid to say things like: How do you go to the toilet?'

'And the truth is, I could do nothing for myself whatsoever at the very beginning. I couldn't even feed myself, or sit up in bed, or anything. It was a monumental challenge - learning to do all these tasks you take for granted, from scratch. Nothing prepares you for the loss of your hands and feet.

'I don't flatter myself that it's just my story that would be of interest to pupils' he says. 'What kids respond well to is seeing someone from the outside world who is making a go of it and can come in and show them that there's more to life than four walls and the exams they're swotting for - or not swotting for.'

'It's good for kids to know that there is a world out there that is full of potential. And it doesn’t matter if their talents are in academia or in sport or art. It doesn’t matter because there are always opportunities for anyone who has a passion.'

As well as his normal one-off visits to schools, this year Jamie will be spending a total of 25 days at Perth High School where he will not only be working with their Outdoor Education team but will also be involved in a   project with the English department. 

Robin Illsley, Depute Rector at Perth High School, explains: 'The pupils responded so well to Jamie when he came in to give a series of introductory talks that we decided to use his book as a way to get the 5th Years - particularly the boys - more interested in reading. I've read 'Life and Limb' three times already and it's not only a good story, it makes you reflect on life. I've even quoted bits from it in school assemblies.'

Mr. Illsley adds: 'Jamie has already told us that, while he'll be able to teach our young people things like map reading, they'll have to help him zip up his anorak. What a lesson in the need to support one another by both giving and receiving help.'

In addition to his work with schools, Jamie has more recently become involved in a project aimed at improving career prospects for young disabled people run by DARE Scotland. DARE is an education foundation that works with disabled people to 'positively promote inclusion and develop equality for disabled people through education and interactive workshops.' 

He also gets requests from parents, doctors and local education authorities who have children, patients or pupils who have lost hands or feet, often due to meningococcal septicaemia. Says Jamie: 'They need reassurance that it is possible to live a relatively normal and very worthwhile life, no matter what their disability. So that's something I can really help with.'

He explains: 'I can communicate with them by e-mail or, if they're near Edinburgh and want to see me, I'll visit them in person. These are kids who have got their whole lives ahead of them and don’t necessarily know what they’re going to be able to do. It’s really good for them to see someone who, like me, is just getting on with it. It’s also reassuring for their parents who will obviously be worried sick.'

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You can visit Jamie Andrew's website at: www.jamieandrew.com