Left for dead

The incredible true story of one of the survivors of the Everest disaster in
1996, which not only articulates the author’s indomitable will to live, but
also documents his determination to rebuild his life. 7pp illus.

Anyone who read Jon Krakauer’s account of the 1996 Everest disaster, ‹Into
Thin Air›, will be aware of the story of Beck Weathers: the gregarious Texan
climber who went snow-blind in the Death Zone below the summit and who spent a
night out in the open during a blizzard that took the lives of a dozen
colleagues and friends. Even as he staggered back into Camp 4 the next
morning, Beck’s condition was such that the other survivors assumed he would
not make it back down the mountain. He was effectively left for dead, but
drawing upon reserves of determination and courage he didn’t know he had – as
well as the extraordinary selflessness and bravery of a Nepalese helicopter
pilot he’d never met – he finally made it to safety. Only then could a new
battle begin: to rebuild his life with a family he’d taken for granted for too
long.