ABOUT

No legs. No Limits – by Sway PR, Portfolio Sport and Him Bista

BACKGROUND

43-year-old Hari Budha Magar grew up in the Nepalese mountains before serving 15 years as a Corporal with the Ghurkha Regiment of the British Army.

As a boy, he dreamed of climbing the mountains.

Hari devastatingly lost both his legs in 2010 when an IED in Afghanistan - an event he thought would shatter his lifelong dream.

It was a skydive with a veterans charity that was to change his life, starting the long road to mental and physical recovery. Taking up sport and getting physically fit, Hari started climbing and mountaineering.

He first planned to climb Everest in 2018, but a change in the law banned disabled climbers. That wasn’t to stop Hari - who campaigned and took his case to the supreme court to get the ruling overturned.

This year, Hari and close friend and former SAS soldier Krish Thapa travelled to Nepal to make history as the first ever double above knee amputee to climb Everest. He succeeded, summiting the world’s highest mountain at 3pm on May 19th, 2023.

Through his climb, Hari aimed to change perceptions around disability and inspire people to climb their own ‘mountain’, no matter the adversity.

CONCEPT and BRIEF

Sway PR and Portfolio Sport were engaged from the early stages to help drive donations and sponsorship to fund the expedition, raise the awareness for sponsors and supporters, and drive out Hari’s core message of challenging perceptions around disability.

During planning, a team of PR freelance support in Nepal led by Him Bista also joined the media team to leverage media opportunities on the ground in Nepal.

Through strategic partnerships, internal communications delivery and a global media relations campaign, Hari’s story has so far reached every corner of the globe; with media relations ongoing, the reach has already topped 3.3 billion, with 529 individual media placements.

It is hoped that media reach for Hari will top 4 billion with major media activities still to come.

EXECUTION and RESULTS

The PR campaign was delivered in three stages.

Pre climb: Fundraising and media relations

Firstly, supporting a campaign attracting both individual and corporate sponsors to fund the expedition. To embark on the challenge, Hari needed in excess of £300,000.

This was achieved months ahead of his departure date, with an additional £100,000 of product and services in kind also donated.

This enabled Hari to start fundraising for charity during his.

With the team at Portfolio Sport driving corporate sponsorship, fundraising events and creating a crowdfunding platform through which individuals could also donate, Sway PR drove national media interest in Hari’s story.

This was delivered through targeted national media coverage led by in-depth feature and interview activity on TV (including Sky News, the One Show, BBC and ITV news), in print (including multi page features in the Times, Sun, Guardian, Mirror); on the radio (including Virgin Radio’s Chris Evans Show, BBC Radio 4, Heart FM); and online with countless regional and national news and feature placements.

The team also created exclusive events for the media and sponsors to meet and hear Hari’s story including support and appearances from celebrities such as British treasure, Joanna Lumley.

Finally, the team created a proactive communications plan for the climb itself, with regular updates from the team in Nepal, whilst also preparing a crisis communication strategy should the worst outcomes occur.

The climb: Awareness and sponsor fulfilment

Sway PR and Portfolio Sport were tasked with delivering value for the partners supporting the expedition.

The team created a content hub for partners and media; arranged regular updates from the expedition so the media could publish throughout the climb, and sponsors remained engaged and could share content on their own social media channels.

Finally, the expedition director, Ryan Bowd, was able to become the voice of the expedition when the team were uncontactable on the mountain. This resulted in a series of BBC radio interviews throughout the climb.

Sponsors have regularly messaged the team with their appreciation of the support given.

Post climb: Global awareness with a viral news reach

Hari wanted to use his experience to change perceptions around disability.

Sway PR was charged with delivering a media relations campaign to raise awareness of the expedition, before, during and after the climb – with the core message around breaking down barriers and perceptions around disability.

During the expedition, the media team successfully managed challenging communications conditions with intermittent internet and unreliable connections from the mountains of Nepal.

The team in the UK were supported on the ground by a dedicated PR freelance support in Nepal managed by Him Bista who drove coverage across Nepal, India and South East Asia.

Hari returned to Kathmandu to a hero’s welcome; and was greeted and congratulated by the Foreign Minister of Nepal, Sudan Kirati, and a crowd of supporters.

During the event, Hari even received a message of congratulations from President Ram Chandra Poudel, before going to meet Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in person, adding further media opportunities to Hari’s story.

The media relations campaign has to date secured over 529 pieces of media coverage with a reach of over 3.3 billion.

Organisers hope this to rise to well over 4 billion by the end of the campaign with global media activity still scheduled in the UK and US.

Placements have covered an estimated 30 countries from across China and South East Asia; the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, across Europe and the UK; and across the Americas.

At the time of writing, on-couch media interviews have been arranged (but yet to be conducted as Hari is soon to return to the UK) including the ITV, BBC, GMB, NBC, ABC, Sky News, GB news, and the New York Post.

OVERALL RESULTS

• Hari was able to raise over £300,000 in cash and over £100,000 in value in kind to enable his expedition.
• Hari’s supporters and sponsors have expressed their gratitude and willingness to support further expeditions.
• Hari was welcomed back from Mt. Everest as a hero – showing a promising start to changing perceptions around disability in Nepal.
• Hari was greeted by the highest officials and politicians in Nepal – showing those at the highest level of Nepalese government are supporting a change of perception around disability.
• Global media coverage of 3.3 billion (and climbing) has shared Hari’s story around the world. It has even been described be some media as a “viral story”.
• Social engagement has been huge media and supporters posts attracting tens of thousands of likes and comments.
• Work is underway by Portfolio Sport with major production company on documentary and work is progressing on a book.