More than 40 climbers passed a dying man on Mount Everest last week. A few offered some assistance but all, essentially, left him to die.
David Sharp, 34, died while descending from the summit during a solo climb last week, apparently of oxygen deficiency.
More than 40 climbers are thought to have seen him as he lay dying, and almost all continued to the summit without offering assistance.
It's a risky endeavor, no doubt. But that doesn't excuse the ones who passed him.
New Zealander Mark Inglis, who became the first double amputee to reach the mountain's summit on prosthetic legs, told Television New Zealand that his party stopped during its May 15 summit push and found Sharp close to death.
A member of the party tried to give Sharp oxygen and sent out a radio distress call before continuing to the summit, he said. ...
Inglis said Sharp had no oxygen when he was found. He said there was virtually no hope that Sharp could have been carried to safety...His own party was able to render only limited assistance and had to put the safety of its own members first, Inglis said Wednesday.
Had to put the safety of its own members first eh? That might be plausible if you had been on your way down. Not so plausible when you're still going up.
"I walked past David but only because there were far more experienced and effective people than myself to help him," Inglis said.
Who was he expecting to help him, the Mount Everest Ski Patrol?
A decent person, even knowing he couldn't get David off the mountain, might have stayed at his side. At least then he wouldn't have died alone.
Comments