Spencer James West was born and raised in Wyoming. He was born with a disease called Sacral Agenesis which made the muscles in his lower body (waist and under) not be able to properly move. At the age of two Spencer got everything under his knee removed hoping that the prosthetic legs the doctors gave him would work. Sadly the prosthetic legs didn’t work, so at the age of 5, Spencer got everything under his pelvis removed. Growing up Spencer went through a lot of bullying. At stores people would always give him a weird look because he didn’t have legs, he would always wonder why people gave him that look until he looked down. His parents would treat him like he had legs and he grew up like a “normal” child.
There is another video at the end of this sparkpage!
Spencer began climbing Kilimanjaro on June 12 with two friends (David Johnson and Alex Meers) and a team of guides and porters. It took Spencer and his friends 8 days to climb the highest mountain in Africa Kilimanjaro. Spencer and his friends could have stopped climbing in the middle of the trip when his two friends got massive altitude sickness they were throwing up on the side of the mountain but they continued on because they wanted to accomplish this climb. While climbing all they ate was bacon and eggs for breakfast, pasta for lunch and some kind of soup and protein for super.
One of Spencer’s biggest achievements was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for a global clean water initiative. While he also raised awareness of the drought in Africa.
Spencer is a motivational speaker at ME to WE. Most people who view Spencer’s presentation will give him hugs because of the amazing story he tells. Spencer’s story is so heartwarming and motivational that many people know his quote and believe in that way of life. Spencer has a book called Standing Tall. In this book he explains how he grew up and he also answers many questions people ask him.
Also, Spencer didn't just climb Mount Kilimanjaro but he also walked from Edmonton to Calgary.