A week after going missing on Mount Everest, mountain guide Dawa Sherpa was found alive and reunited with his family in Kathmandu. The 52-year-old was last seen Friday while descending the mountain after guiding a Polish climber, but he never reached base camp as the climbing season came to an end.
Dawa was discovered Thursday morning by a cleanup crew, which was removing equipment and cleaning the route after climbers had left. The team found him crawling down snowy slopes near the Khumbu Icefall above base camp, carried him to safety, gave him food and water, and arranged a helicopter rescue to a hospital in Kathmandu.
His wife, Damu, and daughter, Mendo Lhamu, had already begun funeral preparations after losing hope that he would return. Damu says they first learned he was alive through local news reports and a phone call, while Mendo says the family asked for photographs, unsure whether the good news was true.
Source: NEWS NATION NOW
Photo: FURTE SHERPA / AFP / Getty Images