A tale of determination: Emily’s pledge to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge with her new prosthetic l

Emily lost both her legs to cancer complications as a teenager. A year ago, she pledged to fulfil her lifelong dream of climbing to the summit of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Being a wheelchair user, there was one obvious question: how was she going to do it?

It wasn’t an easy process: she got some wonderful new prosthetic legs and had to learn to walk on them again. The months before she was meant to summit the Coathanger were full of doubts: Could she do it? She didn’t feel comfortable or stable as she would have liked on her new legs yet, and she wondered if perhaps she should have given herself more time to get used to them and get ready for the Climb.

BridgeClimb had been in touch with Emily at several stages throughout the journey. A final Climber Assessment revealed she was indeed ready to Climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge.



Fast forward 12 months and, on a sunny winter morning, Emily walked into BridgeClimb with her boyfriend Mike. She had done what 12 months ago seemed impossible: she was walking unassisted and ready to tackle her goal of climbing the Bridge.

With lots of determination and the help and encouragement of her boyfriend and Climb Leader Shelly, Emily managed to conquer over 1,000 steps on the BridgeClimb Express. Standing at the summit, 134 metres above sea level, she couldn’t believe what she had achieved.



Achieving her lifelong goal taught Emily that self-doubt is your worst enemy: “I used to put things in the ‘too hard’ basket, I just wouldn’t bother. But after climbing the Bridge, nothing is too hard”.

Her advice for others in a similar situation? “Don’t doubt yourself; you can do it!”

Congratulations Emily, you did it!

At BridgeClimb, we believe that every day of the year is a great day to celebrate something. If you are interested in challenging your physical limitations with a climb, please read our Pre-Climb Checklist, our FAQs, or get in touch with our team with your questions.