HONG KONG – Rai through cold and dizzy with dizziness, Lai Chi-wai hits his helmet again and again to stay awake.
As he goes, pulls on the hand scraper while trying to scale a Hong Kong skyscraper with rope while sitting in his wheelchair.
At 800 feet, however, the gust of wind became stronger, relentlessly. The wheelchair starts to turn. Mr. Lai, a former champion rock climber who had never had a fear of heights, began to fear for his life.
After swaying in the wind for almost an hour, he turned off the climb, just short of his goal. He was overwhelmed by disappointment. But in the process, he inspired a city engulfed by political unrest and a relentless pandemic, raising more than $ 700,000 for charity.
During an interview on Monday, Lai, 38, watched as workers removed the ropes and anchors he had used for his climb along the glass facade of the 1050-foot Nina Tower – a building as tall as the Eiffel Tower – two days earlier.
“When I look up, I can see the unfavorable conditions I was experiencing, and I feel the fear and helplessness when I was suspended in the air,” he said. “I also saw how close I was to achieving my goal.”
Mr. Lai said he exceeded his own expectations of his strength, resilience and decision-making during his 10-hour ascent. Yet he said: ‘I did not expect that I would not be able to finish if there was still power left in my body. I have no excuses to give as an athlete. ”
Mr. Lai is a four-time winner of the Asian Rock Climbing Championships and was once eighth in the world in the sport. He became paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident nine years ago.
Determined to keep climbing, he ascended in 2016 in his wheelchair Lion Rock, a steep mountain ridge that embodies Hong Kong’s spirit of resilience amid adversity.
A skyscraper becomes his next target. He attempted, as he put it, to ‘express the Lion Rock spirit in an urban jungle’ by ‘constantly climbing’.
He started his morning Saturday morning under blue skies and gentle breezes. But by noon, strong winds had tampered with the ropes he used. His wheelchair rocked back and forth and sometimes threatened to ram the building inside.
He climbs two more dozen stories as the gusts of wind continue to explode in bursts of five to ten minutes, stopping to loosen the ropes.
As the wind beat him relentlessly at 800 feet, his arms were cramped and his bandaged fingers clapped from blisters. He also feels his body temperature drop. A team of fans and rescuers send messages on his walkie-talkie asking if he wants to stop.
Days after calling the time on the attempt, he said the climbing scene still filled his head and kept him awake at night. Monday back at the skyscraper, his fingers were raw, and he only used the tip of his thumb to twist the straps of his wheelchair.
As of Monday, his efforts helped raise $ 735,000 to fund research on a robotic exoskeleton for patients with spinal cord injuries.
Volunteers praised him online. But what many saw as an unimaginable achievement of endurance still bore for him the sting of an unfulfilled dream.
“I can only accept this version of events,” he said. ‘But as an athlete, I do not know if this is the best end. I do not have closure yet. I’m still looking for answers. ”