On the night of May 21, for Sherpa Sanji and his Pakistani client Abdul, their lives would have ended without a miracle, as they collapsed immobile in the snow at 8,600m, fresh from the summit and running out of oxygen.
Waiting to die, a group of climbers found them. Including Song Qiang, a climbing instructor from Beijing Huannai Mountaineering team, who happened to meet them while climbing to the summit. "At about 8500 meters, I found two climbers, one of whom was a Sherpa from another expedition company. He hung himself on the line and sat in the snow, a little confused. The Sherpa was leading a guest up Mount Everest when he ran out of oxygen and couldn't go on." Song Qiang later recalled.
"During questioning I noticed that his right glove was missing and I gave him the right hand of my thin glove. Bianba opened his backpack and found that his oxygen bottle and regulator mask were there, but he had run out of oxygen. I and Bian Ba said, give him a bottle of my oxygen, I calculate, I 3 bottles of oxygen is enough, hope to save him in danger."
One German climber described his admiration for Chinese climber Song Qiang. Chinese climber Song Qiang was able to save the exotic man with his own oxygen, "a great move", as he could hardly survive without oxygen on a snow-capped mountain above 8,000 meters.
At this time, Song Qiang continued to climb and see a climber hanging on the line, understand that this is the guests before trapped Sherpa, but also because of the oxygen can not be withdrawn, then the international team captain Nima also rushed over, he began to call the intercom rescue, Song Qiang and the guide did not stay too much to continue climbing.
At 2:15 in the morning of May 22, Song Qiang and the guide in the summit retreat, once again encountered Sangi, at this time, Sherpa mountain adventure company consultants began to participate in the rescue. Two Sherpas from the Wanai mountaineering team were also involved in the rescue of Sanji and his client Abdul, from the 8600m to C4 camp to base camp, where Sanji was in distress, while the team retreated alone at great risk.
In the end, fate favors them and they are rescued.
Sanji spoke to reporters at the Kathmandu hospital on May 28.
When they reached the summit, he said, they took photos and began to descend, but the weather on Everest changed rapidly. Suddenly, the wind was cold and strong, snow was falling, and his oxygen mask and goggles were completely frozen and he could not see anything.
Sanchi gave the customer his spare oxygen, but the customer moved so slowly that Sanchi felt "like a drunk person falling down." Soon, Sanchi found his client stalled a few meters away. "I talked to him on the intercom, and he didn't respond," he said. He said he was drowsy and soon unconscious.
As he was waiting for death, some climbers found him, but they did not extend a hand to help him. Fortunately, Song Qiang, the coach of the Wanai Mountaineering team, and his guide Bian Ba rescued him in time with oxygen and gloves, giving him hope to live. At that moment, he said, "I felt like a miracle."
Sanchi told reporters that he was unconscious for three to four hours, but that he had a vague feeling that he was being dragged along a rope.
At the hospital, the young Sherpa's hands were wrapped in gauze, his black fingers as cold as ice. Doctors said it would be 20 days before they could determine whether his fingers were viable.
