Running 20 marathons in two years is a mean feat, but Briton Chris Moon has done it with a prosthetic foot and arm.
Moon spent Monday morning at Phnom Penh Military Hospital telling government soldiers recovering from land-mine injuries how they, too, can continue to live active lives without limbs.
“He must not in his head tell himself he can’t do things, because he can,” Moon, speaking through an interpreter, told a soldier from Koh Kong province who had lost his left foot.
Moon was in Cambodia over the weekend with the Peace Boat, a vessel that is carrying 470 children from Japan and Korea to four countries in Southeast Asia to learn about peace. At a Sunday-evening ceremony in Phnom Penh, children on the trip presented the Cambodian Mine Action Center with $15,650 to support demining activities in Cambodia.
More than 35,000 Cambodians have lost limbs to land mines—the highest number per capita in the world.
Moon lost his right arm and foot while demining for The Halo Trust in Mozambique in 1995. Since the accident, he has been raising money and awareness about mines for seven different charities worldwide.
In January 1997, Moon ran the Phnom Penh International Marathon in just over 6 hours.
