This Man Recounts His Terrifying Ordeal Stuck On Mt. Everest | I Shouldn't Be Alive S4 EP15 | Wonder

you on Mount Everest a climber slips into unconsciousness of 28,000 feet those on the edge of death unable to save him without risking their own lives his Sherpa guides leave him for dead but he's still alive suddenly I was in the real world on this precipice now he faces the impossible to survive a freezing night alone without shelter or oxygen on the world's highest mountain it was so cold there was a wind swirling around like a hurricane I thought well this is when I makes you going to die [Music] Mount Everest the highest place on earth [Music] it's the holy grail for Mountaineers and a lifelong obsession for Australian climber Lincoln horn my fascination with Everest began in the 1980s I became so obsessed with climbing that I just kept going as far away that as I could and that took me to varus [Music] in the early hours of the morning he's going to make a summit attempt but it won't be his first 22 years ago Lincoln got to within 1500 feet of the summit before conditions became too dangerous and he was forced to abort his climb when I got down to the base camp I was overwhelmed by disappointment it was almost like a poison that just couldn't let that happen again but now aged 50 and with a wife and family Lincoln knows that this is his last chance having a family made a huge difference to Lincoln even though this had been his dream for a couple of decades not coming back wasn't an option I just turned 50 and I was nowhere near my strengths that I'd had back in my heyday and I knew that the only way I was going to get through this was through the strength of my mind okay George I let's go bye it's close to midnight and Lincoln prepares to leave the pre-summit camp with his Sherpa guides in front of them like 1,800 vertical feet and an arduous nine our high-altitude climb I had a feeling that I was attempting the impossible and Lincoln knows but this year alone 10 climbers have died trying to reach the summit at a lower camp Lincoln's close friend an expedition colleague Mike Dylan is monitoring his climb Lincoln and I been friends for many years she was one of the best climbers in Australia and a great friends we were expecting you to hear hopefully good news Lincoln is now climbing in what's known as the death sound an altitude starved of oxygen where every step is a test of endurance then the ambition starts to come in then the excitement starts to come in and the energy comes in because this was my big chance [Music] it was wonderful there were stars everywhere and it felt like you'd already left the planet [Music] as dawn breaks he reaches what's known to climbers as the second step the biggest obstacle between Lincoln and his dream it was just all that joy of the technical part of climbing combined with the world's greatest mountain [Music] [Music] the mountains have started to take shape we could see the ghost and shape of the summit pyramid with the summit of Mount Everest within my grasp the amount of effort I was going to have to put in didn't really matter because I knew I did have that energy within me to get to the summer [Music] those last sticks we were really difficult but I knew I would get there [Music] blinkin has made it to the summit of Everest he's on top of the world I could just feel this with glove excitement and of joy it was just the most wonderful feeling 25 years since I started thinking about Everest and finally I was here and just the immensity of the view the distance that you could see the curvature of the earth it was just beautiful I was just walking past the communication tent when I heard his voice like this bike over it was fantastic because Lincoln deserved it more than anybody oh he was perfectly calm he sounded as though he was ringing from the office thanks guys just remember though there any halfway there okay we'll celebrate somebody has to remind you that's all though it's a beautiful view get down is a crucial thing and get done quickly when you get to the summit you're only halfway there reaching the summit isn't being a good Mountaineer it's coming back home every time Lincoln knows they must descend immediately from the Death Zone as no one can survive at this altitude for long the Death Zone has earned its name because it's as a hide where your body is literally dying with the shortage of oxygen it's very easy to let a little error slip past you and that can wait to death Lincoln and his guides now face a grueling three-hour descent to get back to the pre summit camp that extra energy that you had from achieving your ambition suddenly you don't have that ambition and you just filled with tiredness suddenly I just felt exhausted [Music] then I became overwhelmed with lethargy [Applause] I passed out in the snow suffering from a severe form of altitude sickness oxygen starvation is causing blood vessels to leak fluid into Lincoln's brain I couldn't live in this oxygen-starved environment for very long at all if he doesn't get up and get down the mountain fast he'll die just don't know what happened thank you through Basecamp those are this is mine from base camp over me kill is down at Basecamp Lincoln's friend Mike Dillon knows this is desperate news Lincoln is suffering from severe altitude sickness or cerebral edema we've started to be very wary because when you get cerebral edema at that heart it's very unlikely that you'll you'll live pressure is being put onto your brain there's nowhere for that pressure to go so it makes you go delirious and you die is he talking is he making any sense over cerebral edema can kill people instantly but we knew that some timers can take a a little while close to the summit of Mount Everest it's impossible to bring Lincoln down no one has the physical strength to carry anyone down from that height okay helicopters can rescue you from ships from being lost in the bush you can be rescued from the water but you can't be rescued from the summit of Mount Everest over decades more than 200 people have been left for dead near the summit of Everest suddenly I was back in a sort of I wouldn't say lucid state but I actually realized where I was I was on Mount Everest good work Tasha I was lucid enough to realize that I really had to get down as quickly as I could but the fluid causing pressure on his brain is now leading to a dangerous loss of physical control I was going incredibly Stolley I could hardly walk I was just so weak everything was difficult I would tell my legs to move and I wouldn't and I'd force them to move and that take that the other leg and do the same thing [Music] it was my mind that was driving me forward [Music] somehow Lincoln manages to make it back to the second step but this means rappelling down a sheer rock face at 28,000 feet above sea level that's the dangerous place it's a make-or-break at point and often it's a place where people die and Lincoln's mental state is getting worse I was in the trance Isis incredibly confused another Sherpa is at the second step I wonder what he was doing there a climber that he was guiding to the summit has died just below them already confused the news pushes Lincoln over the edge it was such a shock that I fell to pieces it was me battling the Sherpas I was really on the very edge so 11,000 foot drop that's where I wanted to jump [Music] I was trying to jump off the place I had gone delirious [Music] [Applause] giorgia to base camp do you read me over his guide radios Lincoln's close friend Mike Dillon at base camp for help put the radio to Lincoln's ear I want to talk to him okay Lincoln mate it's mine we were his friends we spoke his language even though his mind was obviously irrational we thought that we might be able to help Lincoln you got to get up Mike is Lincoln's only hope the Sherpas can't carry him down but staying with Lincoln at this altitude could kill them too if Lincoln doesn't get up you'll be left to die come on Mike get up suddenly I could hear an English voice death to keep going all right but it was Michael Dillon begging me to come down Lincoln Lincoln you have to help the surface and that managed to get through to me and suddenly I was back but now Lincoln must rappel down the treacherous second step at this time he's on his own and I needed to descend that using a rope and there was a land I started going down the rope [Applause] I managed to get halfway down and then I started hearing voices suddenly I became incredibly frightened [Music] I just panicked I was just incredibly scared my immediate thought was that I'm gonna die Lincoln loses consciousness again suspended at 28,000 feet and then happy birthday I'm solution there was sort of a Sonic's but suddenly everything was wonderful it's amazing view I forgot about everything else I just started to feel this joy at this wonderful mountain scene with the warm colors of late afternoon on the snow and I realized where I was [Music] pulsing to the gentleman repelled down against the odds Lincoln makes it down I just felt incredibly relieved [Music] the Sherpas took advantage of the fact that sudden that I was reenergized and they kept at me they just kept telling me to keep moving keep moving keep moving but vital time has been lost and at this altitude every second counts we knew that they'd run out of oxygen by now we knew that meant all the effort of trying to get Lincoln to come down was exhausting everyone it was probably the key factor that was going to kill Lincoln as the Sherpas desperately tried to push Lincoln on disaster strikes again I collapsed in exhaustion I just had no energy now I was able to move no further that was actually felt quite pleased to either he's breathing very slowly and he was in a very bad way he's lost all heart and hope they put it like that I remember thinking he's a goner thank you the Sherpas put their finger in to Lincoln's eye and he didn't respond at all so he was in a comatose state we knew that Lincoln wouldn't live because if you've got cerebral edema you've been where that oxygen and you're that high on Everest no one has survived to be realistic we have like zero chance of getting him down Sherpa stay up there a good old iron the Sherpas had put in superhuman efforts but we had to realize that there was some point where someone would have to make the decision that to save their lives we'll have to tell them to leave Lincoln and head down themselves the Sherpas say a prayer and collect Lincoln's belongings to return to his family Lincoln Hall is left for dead [Music] back at Basecamp Mike Dillon has just received the news his close friend is dead we were in shock we didn't quite know what to do next but we didn't know we had to tell Lincoln's wife Barbara hello hi Barbara its Mike look I've got some bad news Lincoln passed away about 20 minutes ago I just felt an incredible hollowness as though really part of me had died as well [Music] I just felt just numb it has felt completely numb and Hollow when it finally reached its ultimate conclusion that he's dead then it's it's it's still a it's a dreadful shock [Music] three hours after being left to die Lincoln emerges from his comatose state I felt completely disoriented I was exhausted dehydrated I've been left for dead and I was still there I was still alive I very carefully looked for my pack which had some real useful things like a warm thermos and a headlamp and some extra clothing but the pack has gone Lincoln's guides have taken all of his gear to return to his loved ones my immediate thought was that I'm gonna die having been left for dead with no shelter and no oxygen how could I possibly survive up here night falls on Mount Everest and Mike Dillon has no idea his best friend is still alive I had to go to link instead and pack up all his belongings report to the authorities that he died [Music] we hadn't really taken in Lincoln's death really to be honest you friend can't process this kind of information [Music] as the night wears on the temperature plummets to minus 25 degrees it was so cold there was a wind swirling around like a hurricane exposed near the summit blinken is now at serious risk of hypothermia if he falls asleep he will drift back into a coma and quickly freeze to death staying live meant staying awake I kept telling myself my heart was ready just to drift off into nothingness into the warmth of imminent hypothermia but I just couldn't let that happen so I rocked my body in a sort of circular motion as the hours go by and the temperature drops further Lincoln doubts he'll make it through the night my family's back home and there's this aura of death as Lincoln barely clings to life his grieving wife and sons are back in Australia eventually I fell asleep and I had a dream that I could see Lincoln walking towards me very very clearly and he was smiling and it was such a lovely vision I just woke up full of joy that he was coming back and then the awful truth hit me I just felt incredibly cold and numb and I could hear especially our older son crying himself to sleep [Applause] [Music] by the early hours Lincoln is losing the battle to stay alive I was so cold I couldn't feel a thing and then I realized with horror what I wasn't feeling I wasn't filling it's my fingers and I recognized the wooden feeling of frostbitten fingers [Applause] my fingers were frozen solid but frostbite is not the only sign that hypothermia has now taken a deadly hold I felt too hot and began undressing feeling too hot is a symptom of advanced hypothermia and a sign that Lincoln is close to death it was the beginning of the game at Camp Lincoln Hall Lincoln's friends pay tribute to him Lincoln hundreds of people have died on Everest but we thought was never going to happen to Lincoln I had an hallucination where I was wearing a really warm and comforting cloak the warmth and the welcoming of my imminent death [Music] and I thought well this is when I'm actually going to die and then a horrible horrible recognition of the fact that I would not ever see my family again [Music] I could not accept that because if I died my family would be destroyed [Music] love was the overriding emotion I couldn't wear the cloak of death I had to find a way out I had to come back to my family [Music] it's been 12 hours since Lincoln hauls lifeless body was left to die [Music] incredibly he's still alive but alone near the summit of Mount Everest he's barely clinging on to life the earth was beneath my feet and I thought that can't be right that can't possibly be right this this huge mountain can't be moving therefore I must be on a boat I was so contained in that bizarre world of hallucinations and and loneliness and cold and and death I didn't know where I was [Music] I knew someone was there [Music] [Music] it was all very confusing because I had been living in a very intense world of being alone and coping with that and suddenly there were other people who had come from somewhere leading one of the very last climbing parties of the season Everest guide Dan Meserve has found Lincoln by chance that was actually the last day that there was anyone else on the mountain as full final climbers would have been expected to step over my dead body we had this really kind of wide-eyed very gone look in his face he was not in good shape you know and 28,000 feet you know the human body is very fragile severely hypothermic and delirious from the swelling in his brain it may already be too late to save Lincoln he kept looking at us and saying oh this is a brilliant boat ride we're on what a brilliant weather furrow cruise dan recognizes the deadly symptoms of cerebral edema he gives Lincoln oxygen to help alleviate the pressure from his brain and chocolate to raise his blood sugar levels suddenly suddenly I was in the real world I just didn't remember what happened Lincoln is pulled back from the brink of death this is seven so instead go head over we suddenly heard the guides voice come on the radio somebody called Deacon off duty me Lincoln died he died last night over he's alive you kidding me it was pretty amazing we were still in the state a state of shock we hadn't really taken in Lincoln's death really to be honest and now we had this extra news to take in that Lincoln wasn't dead a team of Sherpas is quickly mobilized to rescue Lincoln but they are four hours away and Lincoln has already slipped back into a delirious state you can slip away into unconsciousness and coma and death extremely rapidly up there now I was hallucinating madly he turns on those trying to save him he fought us he took off his oxygen mask ripped it off yeah I was trying to go back up the mountain in fact I was on the edge of death finally two Sherpas arrived from camp to try and bring him down already exhausted from the for our ascent Lincoln's life is no advance the shippers had no idea of how fragile I was I could only get half a dozen steps [Music] before I had to collapse in the snow the Sherpas must now get Lincoln down 7,000 feet three hours since the Sherpas reached Lincoln and Mike Dylan is getting anxious Lincoln was in a bad way he was alive but we didn't quite know whether he was going to ultimately survive we thought he had a 50% chance of making it and as another night falls Lincoln's progress is painfully slow the Sherpas know that their lives are now on the line I was saying they have to go more slowly and now saying now you have to go fast they push Lincoln hard [Music] they were prepared to do anything to get me off the mount I could tell from the tone of their voices that they were tired and exhausted and they didn't want to be there I went to eat me with these are sex [Music] [Applause] they were prepared to do anything to get me off the mountain [Music] [Music] 10 hours since the start of the rescue Lincoln is losing his battle with hypothermia and cerebral edema Lincoln finally gives up I was able to go no further [Music] [Music] barely conscious the Sherpas push Lincoln on [Music] the only thing I could do was just to hold on to my commitment to find a way through this I just had to be able to keep walking to stay alive [Music] I was going to do it I was going to get back so I could get hot or cold [Music] I came around it's like cresting the slope [Music] and I thought this is it [Music] I'm going to sip on [Applause] it was just a flood of relief [Music] but I didn't have any energy left for jubilation Lincoln Lincoln's voice was so hoarse I couldn't believe it was him she knew it was me and that was just the most wonderful moment [Music] I came so close to destroying the family that I loved so much that I vowed that I would would never let anything like this ever happened again at great personal risk the Sherpas saved Lincoln's life I really wanted him to know that they'd saved my life and that I was would be forever grateful [Music] Lincoln recovered but lost the tips of his fingers and a toe to frostbite he still rock climbs but has no plans to attempt any more major peaks doctors have yet to understand how he survived so long with so little oxygen and without shelter in Everest death zone

Channel: Wonder

Views: 5,742,321

Rating: 4.7816348 out of 5

Keywords: mr beast mountain, Spending 24 Hours On Top Of A Mountain, mr beast, 24 Hours On Top Of A Mountain, wonder, i shouldn't be alive, i shouldn't be alive full episodes, wonder i shouldn't be alive, this man survived a night at the top of mt. everest, mt. everest survival, i shouldn't be alive everest, everest survival, i shouldn't be alive series 4, left for dead on everest, i shouldn't be alive left for dead on everest, survival skills, true story, wonder survival videos

Id: vclEF4MN3Z0

Length: 48min 10sec (2890 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 13 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/umbrellasinjanuary]

Love this show. They have a number of mountaineering related episodes including a guy who falls into a crevasse on Rainier and two guys who get pinned down by a storm in the Alps. They're always really well done.

[u/Zuzublue]

This is Lincoln Hall who also wrote a book about the experience called Dead Lucky. It’s a great read.