Left for Dead, Israeli Climber Rescued from Kangchenjunga

Israeli climber Nadav Ben Yehuda was rescued from the top of Kangchenjunga after fellow climbers believed he had frozen to death.

He spent the night deprived of oxygen, food, water in sub-zero temperatures and he was rescued and evacuated to the hospital by a helicopter.

Despite the more than 20 long hours during which Yehuda was deprived of oxygen and the extreme weather conditions he endured, he survived and was rescued while suffering from frostbite on many parts of his body.

Due to the fact that many parts of his body had completely frozen, he was unable to make a sound or move, leading other fellow mountain climbers who were with him to believe that he had frozen to death and to report him as dead.

The next day, however, it turned out he was alive. Believing that he was on the brink of death, the other climbers had descended the mountain while contending with the rough weather conditions.

⇟ For English please scroll down ⇟ ערב טוב חברים, קיבלנו עדכון מצב מנדב: נדב וחלק קטן מהמטפסים בצוות הצליחו להתקדם כמה מאות מטרים ונמצאים כעת במחנה מספר 4 בגובה של כ-7,300 מטרים. לאור התנאים הלא פשוטים בהר, מטפסים נוספים החליטו היום לא להמשיך למעלה וירדו למחנה הבסיס. מזג האוויר בהר הפכפך, ותחזיות מזג האויר עדיין לא חד משמעיות. נדב והצוות יבצעו הערכת מצב ויקבלו החלטה באיזו אסטרטגיה לנקוט להמשך הטיפוס. נאחל לנדב ולצוות שנמצאים כעת גבוה על ההר – המון בהצלחה ומזג אויר יציב וטוב שיאפשר להם להתקדם. תחזיקו אצבעות!!! שלכם, צוות הפרוייקט Good evening friends, We have received an update from Nadav: Nadav and few of the climbers from the team had succeeded in moving forward a few hundreds meters and staying right now at camp number 4 at the height of about 7,300 meters. Because of the difficult conditions on the mountain, more climbers had decided today not to continue upwards and went back to the base camp. The weather is unstable, and the forecasts are still inconclusive. Nadav and the team will assess the conditions and decide which strategy to use for the rest of the climb. We wish Nadav and the team that are right now at the upper parts of the mountain- lots of luck and a good and stable weather that will allow them to move forward. Cross your fingers!!! Yours, The project’s team

A post shared by Nadav Ben Yehuda נדב בן יהודה (@nadavbenyehuda) on May 15, 2018 at 9:47am PDT

They assumed Yehuda would not make it through the night, but when the morning came, they noticed his “body” had moved a few meters and realized he had tried to rescue himself.

“During the past 48 hours, word that our Nadav was killed close to the Kangchenjunga mountaintop had gotten out,” Yehuda’s wife posted on her Facebook page.

“He was very close to dying, but Nadav didn’t allow himself to and didn’t want to become part of the ice, and he survived. Nadav is alive,” she added with relief.

Yehuda’s rescue was carried out by a helicopter, which operated with considerable difficulty due to fierce weather conditions.

Yehuda’s wife said he lost 17 kg during the past month-and-a-half and that he is very weak and recovering.

“We’ll fly him to receive medical attention in Israel after his condition improves,” she added.

The Phoenix Insurance Company Ltd. was the one to rescue Ben Yehuda from the 8,200 meters Kangchenjunga top on the India-Nepal border—the third highest mountain in the world.

The minute the company’s emergency hot line was notified about his situation, it ordered a helicopter and a rescue team to make their way to Ben Yehuda’s climbers group as they attempted to flee the treacherous mountain.

Once weather conditions had improved, the helicopter flew to evacuate Yehuda to a hospital in Kathmandu.

‏‎‏⇟ For English please scroll down ⇟ חברים יקרים, התקדמות חיובית ומעט מנוחה. לאחר כמעט שבוע של טיפולים אינטנסיביים ומתישים בבית החולים בקטמנדו, הצוות הרפואי הצליח לייצב חלק מסוים מהפציעות של נדב – וכעת יש לנו אישור מהרופאים להטסה רפואית בחזרה לישראל. נדב שמע והתרגש מאוד מהמסרים הרבים ששלחתם אליו, וביקש למסור לכולכם תודה גדולה מכל הלב על הדאגה והרצון לעזור. ואנחנו, כל משפחת בן יהודה – מודים לכם על הדאגה, האכפתיות והאהבה שאתם מעניקים לנו במהלך השבוע האחרון. אנו מעריכים זאת מאוד! במידה ולא יהיו סיבוכים של הרגע האחרון, אנו ננחת בנתב"ג ביום שישי בבוקר, אמנם ישר לבית החולים אבל לפחות בדרכנו הביתה להמשך השיקום בישראל. ממשיכים קדימה, לנה ⇹•⇹•⇹•⇹•⇹ ‏Dear Friends, ‏Positive progress and a little rest. ‏After almost a week of intensive and exhausting treatments at the hospital in Kathmandu, the medical team managed to stabilize some of Nadav's injuries, and now we have the doctors' approval to fly back to Israel. ‏Nadav heard and is very moved by the many messages you sent him, and asked to send you all a heartfelt thanks for your concern and will to help. ‏And we, the entire Ben Yehuda family – thank you for the worries, caring and love you have given us over the last week. We appreciate it very much! ‏If there are no last-minute complications, we will land at Ben Gurion Airport on Friday morning, going straight to the hospital, but at least on our way home to continue our recovery in Israel. ‏Moving forward, ‏Lena

A post shared by Nadav Ben Yehuda נדב בן יהודה (@nadavbenyehuda) on May 23, 2018 at 8:45am PDT