A missing Sherpa mountain guide has been found alive after spending a week lost on Mount Everest, crawling on frostbitten limbs back to base camp just as his family had begun funeral rites.
Disappearance and Rescue
Dawa Sherpa, 52, vanished on May 29 while descending the world's highest peak with a client, who returned safely. They were among the last climbers on the mountain as the season ended. On Thursday morning, a cleaning crew discovered Dawa crawling through snow above base camp, near the Khumbu Icefall.
Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions, which coordinated the search, confirmed that Dawa had frostbite on his hands but was otherwise in relatively good health. He was carried to camp, given food and water, and later airlifted to HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu to reunite with his family.
Family's Ordeal
Dawa's family had lost hope. His daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, revealed they were on the second day of a multi-day funeral ritual when they heard the news. "When we first heard about the rescue, we could not be sure if that person was indeed our father," she said. "We asked for photos to be sent, and only then were we certain and very happy."
His wife, Damu Sherpa, added: "We first heard that he was still alive on the local news and from a person we know who called."
Survival Against the Odds
Dawa, also known as Hillary Dawa Sherpa after mountaineer Edmund Hillary, was guiding a Polish climber for Himalayan Traverse when he disappeared. He was last seen at Yellow Band above Camp 3 at 7,200 metres. He crawled roughly 1,900 metres (6,000 feet) to safety at base camp, located at 5,300 metres.
Ang Tshering Sherpa, a leading figure in Nepal's mountaineering community, called the survival "nothing short of a miracle." He noted: "Sherpas are built tough growing up in the mountains. If there was someone else in his place, they might not have survived."
Dawa, from Okhaldhunga south of Everest, is now receiving medical treatment in Kathmandu.
