Chinese boy, 11, who lost legs in car accident, just fails in attempt to climb sacred mountain with his hands

A Chinese boy of 11 who lost his legs in a car accident has just failed in his attempt to climb to the top of a more than 1,100 metre-high sacred mountain – just using his arms and hands, mainland media reports.

Gao Zhiyu had been trying to reach the summit of Mount Lao, the birthplace of Taoism, in Qingdao, on the coast of the Shandong Peninsula, Qingdao Evening News reported.

He managed to reach a height of 900 metres – using wooden boxes held in his hands as “shoes” as he climbed the route made of stone steps – before giving up his attempt because of severe blisters on his hands.

“If I was given more time, I could slowly climb to the summit ... next time, I must make it to the top,” Gao, from Qingdao, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

He was accompanied on his first attempt at climbing a mountain by Chen Zhou, a man who also lost both his legs in an accident.

Chen has walked to more than 700 cities on the mainland on his hands.

The self-help lecturer has also climbed to the top of more than 100 mountains, including Mount Tai and Mount Huang.