India: Indore’s 7-yr-old boy with Down Syndrome to trek Mount Everest base camp

Indore, Madhya Pradesh: A seven-year-old boy with Down Syndrome from Indore in Madhya Pradesh is set to leave for Mount Everest base camp along with his father, who’s a software engineer.

Indore-based Aditya Tiwari is going on a trek to Mount Everest with his adopted son Avnish. Tiwari had adopted Avnish five years ago.

Talking to ANI, Aditya Tiwari said: “I adopted Avnish in January 2016, when I was 26 and unmarried. My son has Down Syndrome and we are going to trek the Mount Everest base camp, for which we have been preparing for the last six months.”

He said that the base camp of Mount Everest is at a height of 5,364 meters. “We will stay at every point for two to three days and will proceed further after looking at my son’s health.”

“Till now no child with Down Syndrome has gone to Mount Everest base camp at such a young age. The maximum altitude reached by any such child is 2,800 meters above the sea level after which it becomes difficult due to medical conditions,” Tiwari added.

Tiwari said that people normally complete the trekking in 12 days. “But it may take us 21 days. We have also arranged for a guide, Sherpa, and medical emergency, which can airlift Avnish if needed,” added Tiwari.

He also said that the idea behind going to Mount Everest is to change the mindset about specially challenged children and to explore different sports like trekking, mountain climbing, etc. Avnish is also an athlete in Special Olympics, and he’s currently training while going to Army school in Mhow.

Earlier we have been to Gulmarg and Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, which are both at 2500 meters above the sea level, said Tiwari, adding that they had also gone to Ladakh.