Mount Everest is one of the highest points in the world. Climbers from all around the world try their best to reach the highest point of this mountain and there are many who have made that possible. As they say, good things don't come that easily, this story would surely prove this saying. One man who was determined to climb all the way up to the Mount Everest was taken aback when his life took a very sharp turn and everything changed for him. Who could have thought that this guy would see such an unimaginable thing in his life that would divert his future journey to some other direction? What exactly happened that day? What changed? You'll find out soon...
Every mountain climber sees himself climbing the highest peak in the world the Mount Everest one day. Every other professional climber who was once an amateur did have this one mountain peak on the bucket list. Unfortunately, this beauty of nature is also a beast that has taken the lives of hundreds of climbers over the years. Your one wrong move can cost you your life and this man here did the same mistake, but then something happened and he was saved in the most uncertain way.
Lincoln Hall was a natural-born climber. When he was 15-years-old, he found his passion, rock climbing worth spending a life. According to Lincoln, this passion of his opened up several new gates to a different world that not only asks for an extreme amount of focus but also well-defined judgment and a strong will to fight against the odds. Lincoln was ready for all of this and he understood all of this when he was just 15-years-old.
He was studying zoology at the Australian National University, there are also he didn't leave his passion behind and continued the venture of his to become a successful rock-climber. In college, he enrolled in a mountaineering club, so he could be friends with the people with the same interest as his. As a club member, he was lucky enough to travel the world, scaling a mountain peaks in New Zealand, the Andes, and Antarctica.
Lincoln was living the best moments of his life in college. Surrounded by the same type of people and traveling the world was something which gave his life a new meaning. He was working hard to understand all the depths of rock-climbing so that one day he could use all this valuable information to climb the highest peak in the world. Climbing Mount Everest was his dream and he almost achieved it when he met the most dreadful fate. What happened that day?
Lincoln was working really hard pushing all the limits to understand the core of mountain climbing. Even after graduating from the college he kept his focus on the mountain-climbing. He was lucky enough to be a part of the first team in Australia who scaled the Mount Everest in 1984. It was this team's effort that discovered a brand-new path for the climbers who chose forgo oxygen on their pursuit.
Unfortunately for Lincoln, he couldn't proceed further with the team and stopped before he could reach to the top of the summit with the rest of the team. He stopped some few hundred yards away and saw other members of his team moving forward achieving that one goal of touching the highest peak in the world. According to Lincoln, a climber should always know where to draw the line and for Lincoln, it was clear as crystal. He knew that he simply can't carry on.
Though Lincoln failed to reach the summit of Everest, he spent several years of life continuing to climb other peaks in the world. He even wrote books about his amazing adventures and the most popular was "White Limbo," in which he wrote about his experience where he came close to the top of the Mount Everest and how he failed to achieve his dream once again.
In the back of his mind, reaching the top of the Everest was always there. So, in 2006, he tried his luck again. It happened after 22 years later when he was again at the same spot. This time he was determined to fulfill his one desire of touching the top of the Everest. But then, things don't always happen the way we want them to happen. Something happened that day...
This time Lincoln was a team that was also trying to scale Everest for the first time. It was Lincoln's second time but he could feel the same excitement as it was his first time. In the team, there was a young 15-year-old climber. Whenever Lincoln saw this boy he remembered himself. Even Lincoln was 15-years-old when he first discovered his passion for rock-climbing. The boy wasn't able to reach to the top of the mountain and had to stop but Lincoln knew that it was just a start for him as there will always be a next time. However, Lincoln did reach the top this time. But it wasn't easy because good things come with a cost.
At last, Lincoln's dream of reaching the top of the mountain was fulfilled. After waiting for 22 years, he was finally able to achieve that one dream every climber wishes for. Standing at the top of the mountain he felt the satisfaction he was waiting for 22 years. He stayed there for 20 minutes, sinking in his accomplishment before he went down. But then things took a very sharp turn on his way down...
Lincoln was living his dream, but it was now time to descend the mountain. While he was doing that he started to suffer from altitude sickness popularly known as cerebral edema. In this condition, your brain starts swelling leaving the person in hallucinations. And there is another deadly symptom which can take over a person is called crippling lethargy which is one of the most dangerous conditions a climber can suffer from.
As time passed, Lincoln lost control over his mind. The condition was so severe that he even tried to climb up the mountain. The Sherpas who accompanied Lincoln on his journey had to fight him down to calm him down as it was getting really hard to get him down from the mountain. After hours of struggle, Lincoln collapsed and there was no way he could move forward in that condition.
The Sherpas were exhausted from the climbing and fighting Lincoln, the Sherpas notified the concerned authorities about the situation and waited for further instructions. The Sherpas was told to save themselves and leave Lincoln behind because his current situation looked very thin and they thought that he won't survive.
The camp authorities told the Sherpas to leave Lincoln's body behind and save themselves. The Sherpas thought of at least cover the body with rocks but there were none to be seen, so they left the body as it is on the Everest in that extreme weather. After they reached the base camp Lincoln's death was made official. The family was informed about the death and they were devastated by the news. But then something happened when the team went back to the body of the Lincoln. What did they see?
The next day a team was formed and was asked to locate to Lincoln's body. The team started their investigation from the last spot the Sherpas left him. When the team reached the spot they were taken aback by the sight as it was something they weren't expecting. They saw a man sitting on one of the rocks who was changing his shirt. But how did he even survive?
One of the climbers from the team recalled the experience saying, “He had his down suit unzipped to the waist, his arms out of the sleeves, was wearing no hat, no gloves, no sunglasses, had no oxygen mask, regulator, ice axe, oxygen, no sleeping bag, no mattress, no food nor water bottle.” Lincoln who saw the team said only one thing to them, “I imagine you’re surprised to see me here.”
Seeing Lincoln alive was just a pure miracle. There was no way a man could survive the extremest atmosphere of the Everest. But Lincoln survived everything and managed to survive the night without oxygen at the height of 28,000 feet and that too barely clothed. Some even thought that they are hallucinating and seeing a ghost Lincoln. But he was for real.
The team who was ready to trek the Everest next day dropped the idea and rescued Lincoln. He was literally out of control and anything he said made no sense. The authorities which were involved in this camp sent 12 Sherpas to bring Lincoln back to the safety. You just can't leave a man to die like that and they made sure they save him for good this time.
The rescue team brought back Lincoln to the base camp where he was under medical observation and it was one Russian doctor who took care of Lincoln's condition who was suffering for cerebral edema, frostbite, and other injuries. He was not in the right state and it got really tough for the team and the doctors to see what they could do to save Lincoln.
Although Lincoln was recovering from the damage he suffered from that height, he did lose eight fingertips to frostbite. Fortunately, he was able to recover from the cerebral edema. He even lost the toe but that happened for a very different reason. It was because of the shoes he was wearing.
Every professional hiker wear two layers of shoes, an inner hard layer, and outer layer mainly for insulation and picks for the heavy snow. They are great for protection but if left for long unwanted hours could cause you some serious damage just like Lincoln who lost toes because of lack of blood flow. But with a right and positive mindset, he was able to surpass the extreme weather and made it to the base camp.
When asked how did he manage to survive, Lincoln said that it was all because of his training which he has been practicing all his life. His past experience of rock-climbing and inner motivation helped him the toughest phase of his life and he was able to fight against all the odds. Although he was able to survive the incident, life after that wasn't easy for him and it just got harder and harder.
After the incident, he was happy and thankful to God and wrote several books on mountaineering, including "White Limbo" (1985) which was about his first expedition and then wrote, "The Loneliest Mountain" (1989), which had all the details about his trips. It was just a beginning and soon Lincoln was seen on TV.
Whoever read about Lincoln's life story was left in awe and inspired by his struggle and the miracle that happened. Based on his life a documentary was prepared by Emmy-Nominated director and his life was changed and he became a celebrity of some sort. Then his career took off and there was no stop. His life was changed upside down. But good times don't last for long...
He wrote two more books, this time telling the world about the near-death experience with the Everest. Dead Lucky: Life after death on Mount Everest (2007) and Alive In The Death Zone: Mount Everest Survival (2008) were the two books he wrote based on his life. But then one day he got a call and everything was shattered for him once again.
Before he got a call he was also working on a second documentary. This documentary was based on his book Dead Lucky: Life after death on Mount Everest. The documentary was aired in 2008 on the channel National Geographic, and on ABC1 in Australia.
In 2011, he was again interviewed by a famous American TV show, I Shouldn't Be Alive. His story was again in news and people were amazed to see his recovery and life. But he got a call which informed that he was suffering from Mesothelioma and on March 20th, 2012 he passed away in Sydney, Australia at the age of just 56.
He shared a very beautiful message about the death, “In Tibetan Buddhism, death is interpreted as consciousness leaving your body in separate stages over a period of time. It’s different if you’re run over by a truck, but if you’re just dying, say, on Everest, there are stages of death. I ticked the first two of those eight stages, and for some reason that process reversed. So I think saying I died is probably more accurate than saying I didn’t.”
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer when a person is exposed to asbestos. This condition affects the major part of your lungs. In 1956, Lincoln and his father were constructing cabinets and it was then he was exposed to asbestos. Though life didn't do justice to him he was never alone. His family and his fellow climber, Greg Mortimer were always there for him until the end.
Mortimer recalls Lincoln's final moments, saying: “It was very peaceful in the end, around 11:45 last night. Lincoln got into quiet, rhythmic breathing—it was almost meditative—and then he quietly slipped away”.But perhaps we can learn something about life and death from Lincoln Hall, “Death is not as black and white as it seems”…
As they say, life is very unpredictable, so we should try to live our life at the fullest. Lincoln is one example that teaches us one big lesson of life which is to always follow your passion no matter what are the circumstances.