An Australian climber has died on Mount Everest, his family have confirmed.
Jason Bernard Kennison died while returning from the summit on Friday.
The 40-year-old mechanic was part of an expedition run by Asian Trekking, whose managing director, Dawa Steven Sherpa, told the paper that Kennison had started showing abnormal behaviour from the south summit.
The two Sherpa guides with him helped him down to the balcony area, which is 8,400m above sea level. The guides descended to camp four after Kennison refused to move, Sherpa said.
“Since the oxygen cylinders that they had with them were running out, they decided to descend to camp four, hoping to climb back again with oxygen cylinders to rescue him,” Sherpa told Agence France-Presse.
But strong winds and bad weather prevented the guides from returning immediately, the Himalayan Times reports.
Kennison’s climb came 17 years after he was told he might never walk again, following a 2006 car accident that left him battling spinal cord injuries and depressed. He was using his ascent to raise money for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia.
He recounted on his Just Giving page how the motivation to climb Everest came after another spinal procedure three years ago brought another round of rehab: “Someone close to me convinced me that I was still capable of being able to do anything I wanted.”
He said the gift of a surfboard had given him the motivation “to see my life in a different light, to view what I was missing personally inside, and admire the obstacles that I had overcome …
“In 2023 I will head to Nepal, to see and be on Mount Everest, a long way from once battling traumatic injuries and the low and dark days of depression. An ambitious feat that I would never have dreamed of, or thought was possible after once being told that I would not be able to walk.
“I am going to make the most of my life and part of that involves helping other people who have had their life changed in an instant through spinal cord injury. They shouldn’t be forgotten; they should be helped.”
His family said on social media: “He was the most courageous, adventurous human we knew and he will be forever missed.
“He achieved his goal of reaching the peak … he stood on top of this world but sadly didn’t come home.”
Before he left for Everest, Kennison told 7News: “I’ve always challenged myself internally overcoming these things. Everest has become this symbol to me of overcoming those challenges and getting that fulfilment.”
In the lead-up to the ascent he flew to New Zealand for mountaineering courses, practised abseiling and rock climbing, and set up training in his backyard for ladder crossing, jumaring and roping.
Mount Everest has recorded 10 deaths this spring season, with two climbers still missing above the high camps, according to the Himalayan Times.
Asian Trekking and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been contacted.
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