Australian man dies just after reaching summit of Mount Everest, in what climbers call the ‘death zone’

A 40-year-old Australian man who climbed Mount Everest’s 8,849-metre peak died on his return from the summit, the Guardian reported. Jason Bernard Kennison, who is from Perth, died after he became unresponsive at the summit over the weekend.

His family said “he achieved his goal of reaching the peak … he stood on top of this world but sadly didn’t come home”.

“He was the most courageous, adventurous human we knew and he will be forever missed,” A family statement on Facebook said.

A guide told the Himalayan Times they noticed the man began behaving abnormally while descending. The two Sherpa guides with him helped him down to the balcony area, which is 8,400m above sea level.

“Since the oxygen cylinders that they had with them were running out, they decided to descend to Camp 4 hoping to climb back again with oxygen cylinders to rescue him,” Asian Trekking chief Dawa Steven Sherpa said.

Due to strong winds, they were unable to reach the camp and Kennison then collapsed and died. He died in what is commonly known by Everest climbers as the “death zone”, the area of the mountain above 8,000 meters. His remains are still on the mountain.

His climb came 17 years after he was told he might never walk again. Back in 2006, he survived a devastating car crash back when a road train sideswiped the vehicle he was in while he was on his way to work.

He was using his ascent to raise money for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia.

On his fundraising page, Kennison said he would attempt to climb Mount Everest Base Camp “and hope to continue to higher camps of the mountain” from there.

According to Sky News, this is the tenth fatality on the world’s highest mountain this climbing season. Almost 450 climbers have climbed Mount Everest this season according to Nepal’s tourism department.

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