Maria, Dies On Everest While Waiting For Husband To Reach Summit
This is Australian woman, Dr Maria Strydom, who passed away last week after falling ill while attempting to reach the summit of Mt Everest with her husband. She was one of four people who have died on Everest in recent days.
She starved for oxygen for almost 20 hours
Dr Strydom came under the effects of altitude sickness at the South Summit, a height of almost 8,000 meters (over 26,000 feet). She began to descend. "She made a very brave choice to turn around, because she was not a quitter," said her husband and fellow climber, Rob Gropel, according to the ABC.
Her husband too was feeling the effects of altitude sickness, and says the Sherpa did a fantastic job in their race against time to get her down. "It took a while for me to register that I had medication and so as soon as I realized I gave her a dexamethasone injection," he said.
She looked to be getting better, but then suddenly collapsed and died. "It was a superhuman effort, she was without oxygen for 20 hours … because of the length of time it took her, and took us to get her down, and it ran out," Gropel said.
What is said by Maria's Mother
There were hints that the preparation wasn't ideal…
"It was suggested they would sleep over at Camp 3 for their acclimatization, but they didn't.They went up to near Camp 3 and then back to Camp 2, so they never slept there,"
Maria's mother told CNN.
Mr Gropel said no such thing, however.
The Expedition Leader - "Always Trade-Off"
In an interview with the ABC, the expedition leader, Arnold Coster, reminded all of the inherent danger.
"If you sleep too high on the mountain people deteriorate more than they gain acclimatization-wise," he said. "High-altitude mountaineering is always a trade-off."
The Perfect Person
As soon as the weather permits, a team of Sherpa will retrieve the dead woman's body. Her husband is obviously devastated, and is currently trying to get his body and head together in Kathmandu.
"I'm just trying to be strong, I'm learning to cope and block out what causes sort of, breakdowns and trying to get the job done of bringing my wife home," he told the ABC.
"We were planning on finishing the seven summits, as vegans, to prove a point and of course Everest is a summit in the seven summits," Mr Gropel said.
"She was my motivation idol, my hero, she was a very strong advocate for women, she was the perfect person."
RIP Maria
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