Day 6.
Everest Base Camp Trek.
Acclimatization day.
Elevation- High
Hike stats- Lots of meters
We finish our lunch after the acclimatization day hike. (Acclimatization is when you hike up a chunk of meters (a big chunk) and then come back down to spend the night so that you don’t get altitude sick)
A man enters our lodge and urgently asks if anyone speaks Chinese. There’s a sick man in the lodge next to ours and he only speaks Chinese. I look around our dining hall.
Our team of Americans. Our two Australian friends. A group of three who we later found out were from Poland, Canada, and Nepal.
On initial inspection it doesn’t look promising.
The woman from Poland and man from Nepal get up and apparently speak fluent Chinese (they both studied in China).
They go to try to speak to the sick man and our Australian friend, Jared suggests that Rachel goes down to check on him since she’s a nurse. The three of us go to check on this man and He does not look good. I’ve never seen anything like it. His eyelids are pale. He is mostly unresponsive. Every breath he’s gargling the fluid that has filled his lungs.
We learn that in two days he has trekked the same distance that we have in six. That’s some serious altitude gain for two days! He has been sick in this lodge room for three days. He is severely altitude sick and the only solution for that is to lose altitude.
Time’s not on our side. A few days prior they may have been able to walk him down or even ride a yak down the mountain. But his only option at this point for survival is a helicopter evacuation.
He doesn’t have insurance. He doesn’t have money or cards on him. The chinese embassy is closed. On the mountain, helicopters won’t come for people until payment has already been confirmed.
Someone suggests writing a contract to ensure payment upon treatment. Our Australian friends have studied to be lawyers. They write up an official contract stating that the man is responsible for all financial costs of the helicopter evac and hospital stay. The helicopter agrees to come for this man.
Our team is covering the whole situation in prayer. People are laying hands on the man and praying healing over him. As they pray in English, this man, who’s only responsive when spoken to in Chinese, opens his eyes wide and seems alert. People are walking around outside praying over the weather conditions for the helicopter evac. We are all praying that the whole situation would bring glory to God and bring salvations to those around us.
Within a couple of hours the helicopter arrives and all of the people involved walk with this man as he is carried, on a porters’ back, to the helicopter.
He made it to the hospital and we found out a few days later that he had fully recovered. There’s no doubt in my mind that that man was on his deathbed. He was breathing his last breaths as he boarded that helicopter. My prayers were full of urgency that day because I believe, without our prayer and the swift action of each person on our team and the community around us, this story would’ve had a VERY different ending.
This story doesn’t end with miraculous healing in the moment, but I’m confident that the fact this man even made it to the hospital was a miracle.
God had us on that mountain for many reasons. We lived our lives and showed Christ to each person we encountered. I also believe we were there specifically for that man, on that day.
He orchestrated each piece of the puzzle. The group of people who spoke Chinese. The lawyers to write up the contract. Rachel as a nurse to get him the meds and oxygen he needed to make it a couple more hours. Our team to pray over the situation and invite the Lord into it.
What are the chances all of that just falls into place? Crazy.
Dad, no altitude sickness here! Woo
Me, tay, our Australian friends, Bryan and Jarred
Here’s the video of the helicopter evac:
Another perspective on this event:
http://rachelhargreaves.theworldrace.org/post/saving-a-life-on-everest
Other blogs on Everest:
http://amberpharazyn.theworldrace.org/post/trekking-mount-everest
http://amberpharazyn.theworldrace.org/post/mount-freakin-everest
http://amberpharazyn.theworldrace.org/post/wanna-see-everest
http://amberpharazyn.theworldrace.org/post/everest-base-camp
