HONG KONG – Tormented by the cold and dizzy with vertigo, Lai Chi-wai tapped his helmet several times to stay alert.
He continued, pulled after a sharp pull, while trying to climb a Hong Kong skyscraper by rope while sitting in his wheelchair.
At 250 meters, however, the gusts grew stronger, relentless. The wheelchair started to turn. Lai, a former climbing champion who was never afraid of heights, began to fear for his life.
After swinging in the wind for almost an hour, he canceled the climb, just before his goal. He was overcome with disappointment. But in the process, he inspired a city tired of political turmoil and a relentless pandemic, and raised more than $ 700,000 for charity.
During an interview on Monday, Lai, 38, watched workers remove the ropes and anchors he used to scale the glass facade of the 300-meter Nina Tower – a building as tall as the Eiffel Tower – two days earlier.
“Looking up, I can see the adverse conditions I faced and feel the fear and helplessness while I was suspended in the air,” he said. “I also saw how close I was to reaching my goal.”
Mr. Lai said he exceeded his own expectations for strength, resilience and decision-making during his 10-hour climb. Still, he said, “I didn’t expect you to be unable to finish, when there was still some strength in my body. I have no excuses to give as an athlete ”.
Mr. Lai is a four-time winner of the Asian Climbing Championship and has already ranked eighth in the world in the sport. He was paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident nine years ago.
Determined to continue climbing, he climbed Lion Rock, a steep ridge that represents Hong Kong’s spirit of endurance in the midst of adversity, in his wheelchair in 2016.
A skyscraper became his next target. He sought, as he said, “to express the spirit of Lion Rock in an urban jungle”, “climbing continuously”.
He started his climb on Saturday morning under a blue sky and a gentle breeze. But, in the middle of the afternoon, strong winds tangled the ropes he used to climb. His wheelchair rocked back and forth, sometimes threatening to hit the building.
He climbed two dozen more stories as the bursts continued to explode in bursts of five to ten minutes, stopping to untangle the strings.
At 250 meters, while the wind whipped him relentlessly, his arms hurt and his bandaged fingers burned with bubbles. He also felt his body temperature drop. A team of supporters and rescue workers sent him messages on his walkie-talkie asking if he wanted to stop.
Days after ending the effort, he said, climbing scenes still filled his head, keeping him awake at night. Back on the skyscraper on Monday, his fingers were raw, so he used only the tip of his thumb to turn the wheelchair’s tires.
On Monday, his efforts helped raise $ 735,000 to fund research into a robotic exoskeleton for patients with spinal cord injuries.
Supporters showered him with praise online. But what many saw as an unimaginable feat of resistance still carried, for him, the pain of an unfulfilled dream.
“I can only accept this version of the events,” he said. “But as an athlete, I don’t know if this is the best finish. I haven’t closed yet. I’m still looking for answers. “