A Sherpa guide who vanished on Mount Everest was found alive nearly a week later, crawling toward base camp without food, water, or supplemental oxygen. Rescuers call it "nothing short of a miracle."
Dawa Sherpa, 52, disappeared on May 29 while descending Everest with a Polish client. The client made it to base camp safely, but Sherpa did not.
A cleanup crew from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee found him Thursday morning crawling through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. He was carried to safety, given food and water, and flown to a hospital in Kathmandu.
His family had already begun funeral rites when news of the rescue broke. His teenage daughter said they couldn't believe it until photos confirmed it was him. His wife heard the news from local reports and friends.
Sherpa is being treated for frostbite but is conscious and able to speak. His survival is considered extraordinary given he spent a week alone on the world's highest peak.
At least five climbers and guides died on Everest during this record-breaking season, which saw over 1,000 summits.