 |
|
|
 |
|
IPPG Newsletters: January 2001
Two incident reports |
|
| by Prakash Adhikari, IPPG-Nepal |
|
First a report from the HRA (Himalayan Rescue Association) post at Pheriche about a porter who was laying unconscious on the trail down below Chhukung on the way back from Island Peak. A trekker found him and carried him down to Dingboche where the HRA doctor treated him and brought him to the aid post. The porter was put in a portable hyperbaric bag over night and given oxygen. He slowly regained consciousness and told the doctor that he had been forced to carry his load until he was totally unable to go any further and was then left with no money or a companion to help him down with his severe case of Acute Mountain Sickness.
The porter had not a single penny with him. The HRA doctor gave him Rs300 (about US$4.50) and arranged for someone to carry him down. I am trying to find out the trekking company and planning to talk to them. It is really difficult for me to find out the trekking company as the porter does not know the exact address.
The second incident is the story of Kul Bahadur Sunuwar (one of the porters interviewed on the BBC doco).
Kul Bahadur Sunuwar was a porter with a trekking group going to Everest base camp, starting from Lukla. He carried a load for the group from Lukla to Pheriche without any rest day. When he was at Pheriche he was sick and had a headache, nausea, was very tired and had no appetite. As he was sick, he told his sirdar (porters' manager) he could not go further up. His sirdar forced him to go up to Lobuche because there was no other porter to carry his load He then went up to Lobuche.
When Kul went to Lobuche, he was even sicker - vomiting, severe headache, loss of coordination, etc. (symptoms of High Altitude Cerebral Edema). On that night he slept in the open (this is when his frostbite probably started). Next morning as he was even sicker he was descended down to Pheriche with one of the sherpa from the group. The sherpa left him at Pheriche and went back up to Lobuche for the group.
Kul was sicker and sicker. None of the local teahouses or lodges provided him with shelter. He was walking like a drunken man and crying all around Pheriche begging for a shelter to hide his head, but no one provided him shelter.
Finally there was a Rai cook at Pheriche who helped him to stay in the teahouse where he worked. Kul was even sicker on that night and unconscious. The next day the lodge keeper convey the message to Kul's group up at Lobuche and someone from the group came down to Pheriche and brought him down to Khunde hospital.
Then Kul was brought down to Kathmandu and stayed in hospital for two months, due to his frostbitten toes. According to him, Hillary Trust paid the medical bill at the hospital. Now, as he cannot work as a porter anymore (because of the loss of all his toes due to the frostbite), he is working at the place called Shanti Sewa Griha which is a leprosy station. He has a family including three daughters and wife. He has never seen his youngest daughter because his wife was pregnant when he came down to Lukla for portering with the hope of earning some money for the family.
Kal Bahadur would like to be back to his village and see all his family, friends and relatives but still his legs have not healed. He says that one leg is OK but still one leg will take some time to be well healed. If he walks for a long time and do hard work, blood starts coming from one leg. It takes nine days walk to get to his village if he took a bus, but if he flew to Lukla it takes three days.
Kul Bahadur has not yet lost hope. He is hoping his legs will get better and he will actively live his life. He wants to go back to his village and start some grocery business if he find some assistance or loan.
Note from the editor: IPPG is paying for Kul to go back to his village for a visit. Kul now needs regular sponsorship to help him get established with a small business in his village. Please contact IPPG if you are interested in sponsoring or part-sponsoring this man and his family.
|
|
|
|
