Tom Whittaker became the first disabled climber to scale Everest.

Now he is set to plumb the depths of the ocean before facing the final frontier - space.

The York-born adventurer, who first developed an interest in outdoor pursuits while growing up in York, told the Evening Press he is to take part in a special NASA underwater project in September.

This will involve modelling life in space by spending seven days on the sea floor off the Florida coast inside a space module, communicating with people in outer space, in an effort to demonstrate space life support systems to the public.

Tom, 50, married with a six-year-old daughter, said he is also considering an invitation by a commercial organisation in Houston to become the first amputee to go into space on a proposed flight.

Speaking from his home in Prescott, Arizona, Tom said he had been born in York in 1948 when his father, an army officer, was stationed here.

He had returned for about three years in his teens, when his father was based at Imphal Barracks and the family lived in Fulfordgate, at which time he started to become interested in activities such as rock climbing. He moved to America in 1977, and it was two years later when a car crash with a drunk driver left him disabled, but determined not to let his injuries end his dreams.

"I didn't want to come back to Britain in a bucket. I was going to walk back into the country."

But he also wanted to thank the community in Idaho, where he lived, for rallying round him after the accident, raising money to pay off his medical fees.

"I really wanted to do something to pay a debt of gratitude to the community. There were two things I knew something about: outdoor pursuits and being disabled."

So he set up the Co-operative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group. "At that stage, if you wanted to do a recreational activity as a disabled person, you would be taken for a picnic in the park or to play Ludo."

The group had different ideas: it sought to develop a "can-do" attitude for disabled people. "We wanted to go out and do horseback riding in Yellowstone Park.

"When you have got over a pine tree log in the wilderness, climbing a kerb back in town would not be a problem."

Last night's story:

Tom's Star Trek

by Mike Laycock and Adam Nichols

A North Yorkshire man who climbed Everest last month could now become the first handicapped person in space, it was reported today.

Outdoor pursuits instructor Tom Whittaker, who wears an artificial leg below his right knee, has been asked by NASA if he is interested in space travel.

Mr Whittaker, 50, said to be originally from York, but now living in Arizona, became the first amputee to climb Everest when he reached its summit late last month. He said that after climbing the world's highest mountain, space seemed "the logical thing to do next", a national newspaper reported today.

Mr Whittaker had travelled to the US with the vision of becoming a professional mountaineer, but after a head-on car crash with a drunk driver in 1979, he had another huge mountain to climb.

With multiple fractures of both legs and severe injuries to his feet and knees, doctors decided to remove his right kneecap and amputate his right foot.

But he did not let his disability end his dreams.

Mr Whittaker founded the Co-operative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group in America. He is now a professor in adventure education at Prescott College, Arizona, where he teaches skiiing, kayaking, rock climbing, caving and leadership skills.

He conquered the world's highest peak in May this year as part of the Adventure Everest programme, an initiative designed to stimulate determination and pursuing dreams, and with the aid of a revolutionary prosthetic foot.

He was accompanied as far as base camp by members of his handicapped outdoor group.

The climb follows an unsuccessful attempt in 1995, when he reached 27,500 feet on the rocky North Face of Everest. He had to abort the effort after oxygen supplies began to run low.

He was approached by NASA, eager to offer him the chance to become the first handicapped person in space, following his Everest achievement.

His bravery and determination is summed up in a quote used by Adventure Everest '98.

He said: "Everest for me, and I believe for the world, is the physical and symbolic manifestation of overcoming odds to achieve a dream."

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