DENVER (KDVR) — Starting Thursday, a bilateral above-knee amputee is climbing Handies Peak to fundraise for a man diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

World record holder Mandy Horvath will begin without any prosthetics. She’ll be climbing up the 14er with just her arms.

  • Horvath summiting a mountain (Courtesy of Mandy Horvath’s Instagram)
  • Mandy beginning to climb a mountain (Courtesy of Mandy Horvath’s Instagram)
  • Mandy during a climb (Courtesy of Mandy Horvath’s Instagram)

From Oct. 12-13, Horvath will be accompanied by an all-women team to attempt her second 14er in the state of Colorado.

Her journey is to raise funding and awareness for Brian Adams (known as Slacker), the morning host of 101.1 The Fox in Kansas City, who has recently been diagnosed with AML.

This hits close to home for Horvath, as she’s known Brian for many years and she lost her grandmother to AML in 2020.

“In between her diagnosis and her death, I only had seven days to spend with her and there was absolutely nothing I could do,” Horvath said in a press release.

Horvath is attempting this climb to raise awareness and funds for Slacker through his GoFundMe page.

“Brian gives back to his community, he’s spent his entire life helping others. That is why we are committed to helping him in his time of need,” Hovarth said.

While Horvath is new to this mountain, she’s more than familiar with climbing up mountains.

She became the first woman in the world to climb Mount Kilimanjaro without the aid of prosthetic equipment. She’s also completed Pikes Peak twice before.

Hovarth will be carrying a backpack about the same weight as her body to base camp.

The group plans to summit on Friday.