A Sherpa guide was stuck on Mount Everest for a week. How did he survive? 'I was crawling down when I fell into a crevasse and was stuck for two and a half days,' he said.
A Sherpa guide, who was found alive after being stuck on Mount Everest for a week without food or bottled oxygen, is now recovering. The Nepali guide is currently in a hospital in Kathmandu after he was found crawling down from Everest.
He told the BBC that he survived the extreme cold for six days by chewing snow and eating a few chocolates he found in his pocket. He clarified that he wasn't lost, but was forced to stay behind after his oxygen ran out during the descent. 'I didn't think I would survive. I thought I would die this way,' he said.
Hilari Dawa, 52, who works as a guide for the Kathmandu-based company 'Himalayan Traverse', has made a miraculous escape from death. Search helicopters couldn't find him. His family had given up all hope and even started his funeral rites, thinking he was dead. It was then that the news of his rescue arrived.
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Members of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee found him. This team is responsible for setting up ropes and ladders through the Khumbu Icefall at the start of the season and removing them after climbers return. They spotted Hilari crawling through the icefall just above the base camp. He had severe frostbite but was alive. They gave him food and water, and immediately carried him down the mountain. From there, a helicopter flew him to a hospital in Kathmandu.
'Ate nothing for two days, then started chewing snow'
Dawa Sherpa explained how he got into trouble on Everest. 'My oxygen ran out, and I couldn't walk,' he said. 'For the first two days, I ate nothing. Then, I started chewing snow. It hurt my teeth, but I kept chewing. Later, I found a few chocolates in my pocket. I also managed to melt some snow to drink.'
He said that while crawling down, he fell into a crevasse. 'I was stuck there for two and a half days. I couldn't find a way out. Then, an avalanche happened, and snow filled the crevasse. I stepped on the snow, looked up, and felt I could get out,' he explained.
'After crawling out of there, I found ropes that helped me move down. By then, another avalanche had started. I knew if I stayed there, I would be trapped for sure. So, I decided to keep moving forward. I slid down through the snow. I walked all that night. Finally, I reached near the base camp. That's where I saw humans after a week. Some kids were going up to collect garbage. I met them, and they carried me down,' he said, describing his escape.
'I still can't believe it'
His wife, Damu Sherpa, said she had lost all hope when the expedition company told her a rescue was not possible. That's when the family began his last rites. 'When I first saw him in the hospital, I was just stunned. Everyone said he would never come back home. I was heartbroken. I still can't believe it,' she said.
'He recognised me. He is fine and is talking,' his daughter, Mhendo Lhamo Sherpa, told the Reuters news agency after visiting him.
This season was one of the busiest in Everest's history. On May 20 alone, 274 people reached the summit. Over a thousand climbers conquered Everest from the south side this season. Videos even emerged showing long queues of climbers waiting in the 'death zone', an area where the air is extremely thin.
