A warning. If you’re someone who tends to feel guilty that you are not doing enough for charity, or are suffering from inadequacy issues, worried that, as a young man or woman, you could do more with your life, stop reading now.

But if you’re someone who likes to be inspired by heroic acts of generosity, then this is a great story.

Dr. Thomas Boyer is an emergency medicine specialist at Issaquah’s Swedish Medical Center campus, a young man with an accomplished background and a bright future in medicine.

In his other life, Boyer climbs mountains, and has travelled the world, scaling many of the globe’s highest peaks.

If that isn’t enough, the young doctor has a big heart and a desire to help the world’s legions of poor and mistreated.

In a remarkable fundraising effort, which combines all three of his passions, Boyer will climb the “Seven Summits,” the name used by mountain climbers to refer to the highest peaks on each of the world’s seven continents.

For good measure he will also climb Australia’s Mount Kociuszko, and in doing so will become one of less than 90 people to ever achieve the feat of standing atop all eight peaks.

Boyer’s “Walk on Top of the World” is not just for his own personal gratification. He hopes to raise $150,000 for the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, which help amputees living in poverty in countries like Sierra Leone and Vietnam.

Boyer was initially inspired when a friend of his turned down a lucrative job with a software developer to work for the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation.

“To see someone follow their heart, and use their career to do good things, it got me thinking about what I could do,” he said.

Just a few months later, Boyer had launched his eight peaks idea.

“I have so much admiration for people who overcome challenges,” Boyer wrote on his fundraising Web site, www.walkontop.org. “To an amputee in a poor country with no healthcare system, the idea of walking again is about as big a challenge as climbing Mt. Everest. I want to do whatever I can to help.”

Boyer is halfway though his itinerary. After conquering the 20,000 feet of Mount McKinley (also known as Denali) in Alaska, Boyer climbed three more mountains: Elbrus in Russia, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and Aconcagua in Argentina. Next month he faces his toughest test, the legendary peak of Mount Everest in Nepal.

After that he heads to Oceania, to tackle the Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia, and Kociuszko. The final challenge will see him taking on Antartica’s highest mountain, Vinson Massif.

On reading the stories of the individuals that Boyer is helping through his “Walk on Top of the World” the sources of his inspiration are clear.

He carries with him a photo of Gabrilla Sesay. In 1992 Sesay was attacked and kidnapped by the rebels which were at that time terrorizing the rural communities of Sierra Leone.

The rebels killed his two of his friends, before cutting off Sesay’s leg with a blunt cutlass. The then 20-year-old man dragged himself behind a bush, where he hid for two days, before being discovered by locals and taken to a hospital.

The Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, which Boyer is supporting through his fundraising climbs, has helped Sesay reconstruct his life through a micro-credit loan, which he has used to start a small business.

For more on Boyer’s mission, or to contribute to the foundation, visit www.walkontop.org