After being presumed dead by his family and abandoned on the slopes of Mount Everest, Nepali mountaineer Dawa Sherpa has shared the harrowing story of his survival. Exhausted and suffering from a lack of oxygen, Sherpa fell into a deep crevasse, where he remained trapped for three days, subsisting only on limited rations of biscuits, chocolate, and ice. While his relatives back home had already begun performing funeral rites, Sherpa’s situation seemed hopeless until a fortuitous avalanche packed the crevasse with enough snow to create an escape route. Using his remaining strength, he clawed his way out and crawled down the mountain with frostbitten fingers and a fractured leg, eventually reaching safety near Base Camp.

The 57-year-old cook-turned-guide had been part of a record-breaking climbing season, but his journey turned disastrous when he fell behind his team after his oxygen supply ran out. Isolated at high altitudes for a full week, he faced relentless gales and equipment failures, including a dead radio and a malfunctioning satellite phone. Though he heard a search helicopter overhead while trapped in the ice, the rescuers failed to spot him. Since his miraculous return to Kathmandu, Sherpa has been treated for severe dehydration, frostbite, and a broken thigh. While the government has launched an inquiry into the delayed rescue efforts, Sherpa has decided to hang up his climbing gear for good, stating that his days of working on the world’s highest peaks are finished.