12 days up, 90 minutes back for pair in Everest accident
A Taranaki man has told how he piggy-backed his injured 10-yearold son for more than two hours after an accident on Mt Everest.
Rahotu father and son Craig and Harrison Martins trekked to Base Camp on the world’s highest mountain in October, a trip they’d spent a year planning.
They reached Everest Base Camp at 5380 metres above sea level feeling a bit ‘‘spaced out and dreamy’’, because of the altitude, Craig said, but otherwise without major incident.
Then, as they headed down to a glacier to refill their water bottles, a large boulder rolled down the slope and over Harrison’s leg.
Although it appeared that nothing was broken, he was unable to walk. ‘‘An Israeli military army doctor helped me to piggy back Harrison for two-anda-half hours back to Gorak Shep,’’ Craig said. ‘‘It was hard enough breathing, let alone carrying Harrison on our backs.’’
The next day Harrison was evacuated by helicopter to have his leg x-rayed. It carried them from an altitude of 5100m to 1300m, and from -2 degrees Celsius to 28C, in 90 minutes. It had taken them 12 days to trek the same distance.
Although Harrison’s leg was not broken, his ligaments and tendons were severely sprained so the second two weeks of their trip was spent convalescing in Pokhara, close to the Annapurna mountain range in Nepal.
‘‘We hired a nice road bike and met some cool people who quickly became friends,’’ Craig said.
Before the trip, Harrison and his father had raised $1700 for Sir Edmund Hillary’s charity, the Himalayan Trust, to help rebuild schools, and had visited two before they began their climb.
Although their trek ended dramatically, the pair are keen to return to finish it off in next April when the weather was settled, Martins said.
Now back at home in Rahotu, Harrison’s ankle is healing well and he has now removed the moon boot that was encasing it.