A Mount Everest Sherpa was found alive Thursday after being suspected dead.
Hillary Dawa Sherpa, 52, survived nearly a week on the world’s tallest mountain without food, water or supplemental oxygen.
His rescue is “nothing short of a miracle,” said Nepal Mount Everest, a hiking company that participated in the search, in a post on social media. “Dawa’s willpower is truly inspiring, he refused to give up!”
The miraculous rescue
Dawa Sherpa had last been seen on May 29 at the Yellow Band, a spot located more than 6,000 feet above the base camp. He was descending the mountain with a client. The Everest climbing season ended in May, and the pair were the last climbers headed down the mountain.
At some point during their descent, the two were separated. The client reached the base of the mountain. Dawa Sherpa did not.
Dawa Sherpa was believed to be dead until the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, a crew that collect ladders and ropes at the end of each climbing season, discovered “sliding and crawling” down the mountain just above the base camp, officials said.
He was found with severe frostbite and exhaustion. “This hero was still fighting for his life,” Nepal Mount Everest said.
Dawa Sherpa was airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu where he met his family, who had begun funeral rituals for him a day earlier. Doctors are now assessing his injuries.
“This is nothing short of a miracle surviving so many days on the mountains facing such harsh condition,” said Ang Tshering Sherpa, a leading figure in Nepal’s mountaineering community.
