Bharath Samrat, who goes by the name Sam, has faced adversity throughout his life but, despite the fact he stands only 109 cm (3’7”), the Calgarian has overcome obstacles which would cause most people to tremble.

Sam has climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest mountain, which has an elevation of 5,895 m.

The life of Sam has been the tale of a man who refuses to allow others to determine his capabilities.

As a child in India, Sam was told he would never walk. His shin bones and hip bones are connected, and he had neither knees nor thigh bones.

 “I always thought that would remain as dreams,” said Bharath. “When I first came to Calgary and then started to explore things here and opportunities here and the opportunities that Calgary gave, Canada gave…I thought, yeah, those dreams could be reality.”

Sheila Nykwist produced a video of Sam training for the climb for his employer, Keyera Energy.

Much of Sam’s training concentrated on increasing his upper body strength because, with limited leg strength, Kilimanjaro would need to use his arms a significant amount.

While Sam knew his training sessions were being recorded, he was surprised to discover Sheila had travelled to Tanzania and planned to capture his remarkable climb.

 “We came down in the morning and I saw him there with his guides,” recollects Sheila. “I had my backpack on and I just went right up to him and I said ‘Hey Bharath, are you ready to go?’.”

“He had this look on his face of disbelief and he said "No!" and then he gave me a huge hug and he was really happy that he'd have somebody to share this journey with.”

Sam’s initial reaction to Sheila’s appearance was disbelief.

“I just thought my mind was playing tricks on me and there she was,” said Sam. “That was a great encouragement for me. Now I have a group who's climbing with me.”

Sam had not disclosed his plan to climb Kilimanjaro to his friends in Calgary and was startled to find a hero’s welcome awaiting him on his return to the Calgary International Airport.

“We had a Keyera team there to welcome me and I had my church, Lighthouse church, people there to welcome me and we were white hatted,” remembers Sam.

“He's one of these people that you meet and you have this feeling inside like ‘Wow, I can do anything!,” says Sheila.

For personifying dedication and determination, and inspiring everyone he encounters, Bharath ‘Sam’ Samrath.

With files from CTV's Darrel Janz