| Username |
Post |
| Biruwa |
Posted
on 16-Apr-03 08:26 PM
Twist of fate saves Sherpa
Kerry Williamson
Calgary Herald
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Calgary adventurer Dave Rodney checks on Temba, a Nepalese porter he found near death on the trail back from the Mt. Everest Base Camp.
We found him curled up in a nook of rock beside the trail, a ball of torn jacket and ripped pants, moving every so often with each shallow breath.
It isn't known how long he had lain there, gasping for breath, his head pounding like a freight train, his body contorted into the rock wall. What is known is he would have died there, hundreds of kilometres from friends and family, alone on a path in the shadow of the Himalayas, had Dave Rodney not seen something amongst the ball of dirty clothes, and stopped.
"He probably would have died if he had not been found and taken down. He was at death's door," says Simon Pulfrey, a Calgary doctor working at the tiny Kunde Hospital, built by Sir Edmund Hillary and others in the mid-1960s.
"He was one unlucky guy, he had some bad luck. But fortunately, he also had some good luck. Someone found him and did the right thing."
Temba is an 18-year-old from West Nepal, with little knowledge and almost no experience of the mountains now around him. He joined the support team of a trekking expedition at Lukla, the staging point for most Everest trekking parties, picking up his heavy load and joining other Nepali porters on the trail to Mount Everest Base Camp.
It was his first trip, a job that he hoped would launch him into the world of portering, a job that carries with it extreme risks and a heavy physical toll, but relatively good pay for people in Nepal and a chance at a career in guiding. You see other Tembas every day, almost every hour, on trails through the Solu-Khumbu Valley, carrying massive loads on their backs, a sweaty and sometimes bloodied strap wrapped over their shoulders and across their foreheads.
An average load is 15 kilograms, but carrying 30 kilograms earns a porter double, and 45 triple. Forty-five kilograms can be three large duffel bags, each packed full with the clothes and equipment of trekkers and climbers. Porters carry these loads often wearing sandals on their feet, or well-worn trainers with holes in the soles. They struggle up steep hills, battling heat, rough terrain and altitude. Then, when they finally reach their destinations, they unstrap their packs and head back down, only to pick up another job back in Lukla. If they are lucky, they may get the odd supper and some shelter provided while they are on the job.
Temba walked from Lukla to the tiny scattering of lodges known as Gorak Shep, at the foot of Mount Everest. The trail is more than 100 kilometres long, most of it uphill, with an altitude gain of 2,300 metres. The entire walk is above 3,000 metres, a zone where altitude sickness becomes a serious problem, killing people -- trekkers, porters and Sherpas alike -- every year.
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| Biruwa |
Posted
on 16-Apr-03 08:27 PM
At Gorak Shep, at an altitude of close to 5,600 metres, his headache became unbearable. He surrendered his load and, on the advice of his colleagues, turned around and began heading back down, alone. With every step, the air becomes thicker, heavier with oxygen, but Temba was already seriously ill, sick with both pulmonary and cerebral edema, two of the most common killers in the mountains. It is thought he caught measles on his way up to Gorak Shep, weakening his immune system and making him more susceptible to serious illness.
He made it part way down, carrying his own pack, and walking in shoes most westerners would have tossed out years ago. At some point, it all became too much, and he lay down beside the trail. When Rodney and trekking sirdar Ang Nima found him, he was semi-conscious, his eyes popping from his skull. He couldn't communicate and could barely stand.
With the help of other trekkers, Rodney carried Temba to Pangboche and to a lodge owned by his good friend and well-known Everest summiteer Ang Temba. Rodney spent the night lying beside the sick porter, checking his breathing, temperature and pulse every hour, helped by Calgary-based kinesiologist Rob Connelly, a trekker on this trip. They gave Temba Diamox, a diuretic to ease the problems of altitude, and other drugs including oral dexamethazone and Advil for his headache.
By morning, Temba was able to eat soup and stand. The group half-led, half-carried him the six hours to Kunde, a terraced town with a hospital.
Temba should live. He is now hooked up to an intravenous tube and spends much of the day sleeping. Pulfrey believes he has now contracted secondary pneumonia, but says he should be out of danger within days.
Temba's story is a common one in the Solu-Khumbu. Nepalese men from across the country trek for days to get to Lukla, and stand four deep at the airport fence, hoping for portering jobs. The money isn't great -- a porter carrying an average of 15 to 20 kilograms will earn about 320 rupees, or slightly more than $6, a day -- but good compared with wages in the lower valleys.
Most professional trekking companies pay much higher, and look after their porters and guides much better, ensuring they have adequate footwear, clothing and sunglasses before they hit the trail. But it is the private porter, the contractor, who slips between the cracks.
Pulfrey left a job in the emergency room of Foothills Hospital for a seven-month stint in Kunde with his wife, Katie Morgenstern. The pair sees several sick porters every week. Pulfrey has seen two die in the Solu-Khumbu in the last three months. Many others fall ill, yet are never seen by a doctor, and may later die in their home villages or on the trail.
Pulfrey says portering can be cutthroat -- companies may undercut each other in Lukla to win jobs, a policy that then filters down to the men doing the actual carrying. It's a dangerous, dangerous business.
Another problem health workers face is that many sick porters will head back to Lukla and try to pick up another job as soon as they feel strong enough. And then they get sick again.
"We had a guy here last week," says Pulfrey. "He had a cerebral edema and measles. It was his first trip, as well. He came here, and we helped him. He walked back to Lukla, and we saw him two days ago going to Gokyo with an ear infection. He was working again.Rodney becomes emotional when talking about the man whose life he saved. He has visited Temba in his tiny hospital room several times since arriving in Kunde, and says that after their ordeal, he thinks of the sick 18-year-old like a brother.
He knows Temba's fate is now out of his hands. He has offered to help him back to Lukla, but the pneumonia is likely to keep the porter bedridden for several more days. But the chance encounter on the trail has strengthened his determination to help the people of the Solu-Khumbu, through his charity, the Top of the World Society.
"I can't explain why I came to know that Temba was in trouble, but I feel very fortunate to have been at the right place, at the right time, to help him out just a bit," he says. "I think he would have done exactly the same thing for me if the roles were reversed.
"The people of Nepal have been so good to me, it is only right and fair that I do what I can to make their lives just that little bit easier, any time and anywhere I can.
"There's a part of me that wants to see Temba all the way back to the village he came from, but at the same time I know each of us has to be responsible for our own decisions. Hopefully he has learned a huge life lesson, that others will learn from, as well."
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| DWI |
Posted
on 17-Apr-03 08:28 AM
Nice article Biruwa.
We know so less about these great Sherpas, who arguably are the biggest pride of Nepal in this era. I've heard stories about Speedy Kaji (second fastest man to the top), tragic death of the fastest man to the top(forgot the name) and heartpounding encounters of the white stationary. I think we should get more familiar with these aspects of Nepal, we should know ourselves first, before you introduce yourself to the world.
It may often be for the mere need of money, but I salute the courage and braveness of our Sherpa brothers.
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| bhenda2 |
Posted
on 17-Apr-03 08:53 AM
its so sad to read that these porters dont have proper shoes for climbing..hardly any clothes....life is so hard in Nepal....
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| oys_chill |
Posted
on 17-Apr-03 11:09 AM
Biruwa jyu,
thanx for posting such an inspiring story! like dwi said, i do salute these hardworking individuals working in such trying conditions..
to be honest, I don't think nepalis living in the city are really aware of the Sherpas and their ordeals. We have a very different view about them, and yet LOT to learn from them I reckon.
yes bhenda2, life is terribly hard in Nepal...and i keep asking myself time and again whose responsibility is it to alleviate such life..and often i stumble into this thought..perhaps its not the foreign charity organizations..but rather US......just MAYBE!
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| sparsha |
Posted
on 17-Apr-03 11:26 AM
Very touching story.
Madhav Nepal who claims to be the general-secretary of the communist party of Nepal and talks about communisim...[samajbad and samyabad..whatever] and probably keeps theli ka theli books on sarbahara-Marx-Lennin and some other foreign fames at his balkhu office...but does not have time to think how can he help those poor people with whose sentiments and commitment his party plays a game in the name of communism.
Madhav Nepal does not have free time for Temba for he is too busy dealing with the king. Afterall, he is a top notch communist leader of Nepal.
Another boss , BRB, would have either given a gun at Temba's hand to die for him or would have executed him calling a reactionary spy.
Temba's fortunate enough to find Kerry and not some so-called "democratic" home grown "gourme" comrades.
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| GurL_Interrupted |
Posted
on 17-Apr-03 02:17 PM
That article was refreshing...makes u think! about life's deepest realities! So many times, one gets carried away w/ and by the crowd, experiences as such helps u think, realize and reorganize ur perspectives! I am glad you took out ur time to read it and share it here. And I am fortunate to have read that! Thank you.
PpL. (including me) need to be aware about the harsh realities that exists in this selfish world ruled by "Me-ME-ME" everywhere! and need to learn something from Dave Rodney, his frens, porters, pulFrey and everyone who are strong & beautiFuL 4rm within!
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