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Everest: Why I left dying man
24/05/2006 16:19 - (SA)
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| Mark Inglis seen in action on Mount Everest. (AP) |
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Wellington - A disabled New Zealand mountaineer, criticised for failing to help a dying British climber on his way to the summit of Mount Everest, said on Wednesday there was nothing he could have done to save the man.
Mark Inglis, who reportedly became the first double amputee to scale the world's highest mountain, was responding to criticism by Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary, who condemned the climber for leaving the man to die.
British climber David Sharp, 34, of Guisborough, died in a snow cave 300m from the mountain's peak, apparently from oxygen deprivation during his solo descent from the summit.
'Wrong to just pass on by'
More than 40 climbers are thought to have seen Sharp as he lay dying, and almost all continued to the summit without offering help.
The circumstances of Sharp's death prompted stinging rebukes from Hillary, who said it was "horrifying" that climbers could leave a dying man.
He said he would have abandoned his own pioneering climb in 1953 to save another life.
"It was wrong if there was a man with altitude problems and huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say 'good morning' and pass on by," he said.
"Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain."
Hillary said that his expedition, "would never for a moment have left one of the members or a group of members just to lie there and die while they plugged on towards the summit."
Responding to the criticism, Inglis told Television New Zealand that his party stopped and found Sharp close to death.
A member of his party tried to give the man oxygen, and sent out a radio distress call before continuing to the summit.
Inglis, who was due to arrive back in New Zealand on Thursday, said Sharp was in Everest's "death zone", more than 8 000m above sea level, and there was virtually no hope that he could be carried to safety from that altitude.
"I walked past David, but only because there were more-experienced and effective people than myself to help him," he told Television New Zealand.
"It was a phenomenally extreme environment, it was an incredibly cold day. When we stood on the top at 07:00 it was -38°C."
Ethics change foreseen
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark also weighed into the debate on Wednesday.
"What Sir Ed has said is something many people relate to, but he's probably also reflecting the fact that ethics around mountaineering may well change over time," she said.
"It's a complex tragedy with a lot of issues you have to weigh up when life is in the balance."
- AP
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