Climbing Mount Everest is already a challenge that can be deadly. But one climber found himself at the top of the world when his eyes failed him. He lost his eyesight and went blind at the summit of the mountain.
Speaking about the incident on YouTube, former US Navy Aviation Rescue swimmer Brian Dickinson said he lost his eyesight while climbing Mount Everest. During the climb, his Sherpa became ill at 1,000 feet. Dickinson chose to brave the rest of Mount Everest alone. The Sherpa buried a spare oxygen tank for the climber.
Dickinson decided to radio down to base camp to let them know about his location. He said: "'This is Brian, I'm checking in from the summit of Everest'." Base camp congratulated him not realizing that his Sherpa had left him.
Blind And Alone On Mount Everest
Dickin said, "At that moment I realised that no one knew I was alone." Base camp told him to be safe on his descent. But just moments after hanging up, Dickinson lost his vision on Mount Everest. His eyes began to go blurry and burn. He experienced snow blindness due to his goggles failing to work properly. He was utterly alone in a hostile environment and blind.
Brian shared, "I took about - I don't know - 10, 15 steps and everything just went completely white, and I remember just dropping down, grabbing the rope I was attached to and assessing the situation."
He added, "I was completely snow blind." He was also low on oxygen so staying put was not an option. He had to rely on his Navy training to save his life. The climber had to inch his way down Mount Everest.
He also said, "You don't regain your sight usually for 24 hours I wouldn't regain mine for almost two months, so you say blind you're totally blind, totally blind."
Fortunately, the climber managed to make it back to the spare oxygen. From there, he managed to make it down Mount Everest without his sight. It's an endearing tale of endurance on his part. The mountain didn't claim him despite the setbacks.
