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A New Year a New Pole 12 January 2005 Poles Marek Kamiñski, Janek Mela and TV cinematographer Wojciech Ostrowski reached the South Pole on the last day of 2004. Mela, age 16, a senior high school student from Malbork, had his right arm and left leg amputated below the knee following a 15,000-volt electric shock in July 2003. He is the youngest man in history and the first handicapped individual to reach both poles in one year. In April 2004, also with Kamiñski, Mela stood on the North Pole. Kamiñski, age 40, was the first man in history to reach...

A Polish teenager who lost a hand and a leg in an electrical accident pulled off a double on New Year's Eve by reaching the South Pole on foot after conquering the North Pole in April. Apart from his unique performance as a disabled explorer, 16-year-old high school pupil Janek Mela became the youngest person ever to conquer both poles within a year, Polish state television said. Mela, injured two years ago, walked to the poles using an artificial leg as part of an expedition led by Polish explorer Marek Kaminski, who eight years ago became the first man to...