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Everest's Hillary in hospital
24/04/2007 08:08 - (SA)
Wellington - Mount Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary was recovering in hospital on Tuesday, his wife said, after a report he had suffered a fall.
His wife June did not comment on why the 87-year-old mountaineer and explorer had been hospitalised, in a short statement issued on her behalf by Auckland Hospital.
Hillary was admitted to the hospital on Sunday after returning from Kathmandu in Nepal.
"He is in a comfortable condition and improves daily," his wife said.
An Auckland Hospital spokesperson said there would be no further comment about Hillary's condition and she would not confirm he had been hurt in a fall, as reported on the New Zealand Herald newspaper website.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said everyone in the country would be wishing Hillary well.
"Sir Ed is a national icon, there is no one we love more and I think the message from everyone of us is 'hang in there Ed, we love you'," Clark said on Radio New Zealand.
Hillary, who with Sherpa Tenzing was the first to reach the peak of 8 848m Everest in 1953, has been in increasingly frail health in recent years.
But that did not stop him visiting Nepal this month or returning to Antarctica in January, where he led a mission 49 years ago.
- AFP
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