Melbourne professor Maria Strydom was within 400 meters from the peak of Mount Everest but felt tiredness, prompting her and her husband to retreat to the mountain's "death zone".
Her Sherpa tour guide already noticed Strydom's tiredness when she was about to reach the mountain peak. "She was tired and energy was down, there was enough oxygen to supply for her to give energy continuing back around altitude of 7800m," the guide told "The Sydney Morning Herald".
When the couple were nearing the peak, they had to retreat to the "death zone". This area is known as littered with bodies of previous climbers who have suffered fatigue in the place.
She suffered from severe altitude sickness, which flushed fluid to her brain. Her body couldn't take the reaction and gave up.
It is a surprise that Strydom died at the peak, as she is a seasoned climber. Some of her achievements are Alaska's Denali, Argentina's Aconcagua, Turkey's Mount Ararat, and Kenya's Kilimanjaro. She even said she felt she was fully prepared for the Everest expedition.
Climbing professional Alan Arnette states that having five to ten deaths annually is "very normal". He points altitude sickness as the main culprit of the fatalities. According to RTV Rijnmond on an interview with "The Star", health risks appear not only during ascending but also descending the mountain peak.
Since the successful climb of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the Everest peak in 1953, thousands have attempted to conquer the area. However, there are more than 250 deaths related to the climb to date.
Aside from Strydom, Dutch climber Eric Arnold was also a fatality due to altitude sickness on May 21. Strydom's husband Robert Gropel is suffering with heart ailments. Strydom's colleagues at Monash University are saddened by Strydom's death.
Read more: 5 Amazing Mountains To Climb
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
