Nepali Guide Survives Six Days on Everest After Running Out of Oxygen Above Camp 3
Dawa Sherpa was found crawling near base camp six days after disappearing on descent. He survived by chewing ice and eating chocolates found in his pocket.
thelogicalindian.comDawa Sherpa, also known as Hillary Dawa Sherpa, was spotted sliding down Mount Everest by a cleaning crew and rescued near the Khumbu Icefall on Thursday. He had last been seen alive six days earlier. The 57-year-old guide spoke to the BBC from Kathmandu's HAMS Hospital, where he is being treated for dehydration, frostbite and a fractured bone.
Doctors said he is stable in intensive care and his dehydration is showing significant improvement. Dawa Sherpa told the BBC he ran out of oxygen above Camp 3 at around 7,500m and could no longer walk. He did not eat for the first two days, then began chewing ice despite the pain to his teeth.
He later found chocolates in his pocket and melted ice to drink. He fell into a crevasse and remained trapped for two-and-a-half days. An avalanche later sent snow into the crevasse, allowing him to stand and climb out.
He found ropes nearby and continued descending, walking through the night until he neared base camp. " Thrall descended alone for an estimated 50-100m before encountering a Polish climber with severe frostbite and no oxygen. Dawa Sherpa said he met members of a cleaning crew collecting waste near base camp.
They carried him down. He was airlifted to hospital in Kathmandu. "I didn't think I would be alive. I thought I would perish this way," Dawa Sherpa told BBC Nepali. " "I got through the snow and moved downwards.
I walked throughout that night. Then, I came close to the base camp," he said. " Dawa Sherpa's wife, Damu Sherpa, told the BBC the family had begun last rites after being told a rescue was not possible.
"When I saw him for the first time, I was so surprised," she said. " His daughter, Mhendo Lhamo Sherpa, told Reuters that Dawa Sherpa recognised her and was able to speak. "We are happy," she said. Five people have died on Everest during this year's climbing season.
More than 300 people have died on the mountain since records began in the 1920s. More than 1,000 climbers have summited Everest this season, making it the busiest on record.
