Everest 2021 Update – Leonardo Namen – 5th May
An update from Leonardo Namen on 5th May. He is off the mountain due to a stomach infection, and will not be completing his climb, but now may struggle to return home to Canada.
“Good news!!
“I am getting well rapidly thanks to the care of the hospital I am in and most of all to the nursing and doctors team. Waiting on my COVID-19 test results to travel and I will be closer to my land.”
“Bad News!!
“The government has decided with one day in advance to shutdown all the outgoing and incoming international flights. Not allowing people to leave, even when Covid-19 test is negative.
“I do understand the need to control for the incoming traffic, but I don’t get why there is a continuous attack against those leaving. Not of us are on vacation, some are representing an entire country.
“We are athletes we carry out our country’s flags. I wonder what all climbers in Everest Base Camp are thinking about this one or the people hiking and trekking and now having to turn around their journey due to these silly decisions.
“Yes another silly one… now I have a battle ahead of me trying to find an exit from Kathmandu before 11:45 tomorrow Thursday otherwise I will have to stay here until they re-open the country. Which can be on the 14th, or could go on and on for months.
“What’s next?”
Leonardo had to leave Everest after suffering with a stomach infection for 17 days. Here he tells us about his past few days;
“As the team members had a meeting the night before Dr. Sangeeta and the E R team at base camp were having also a meeting.
As much as the base camp clinic has many resources considering the location and how remote it is with the resources at the the base camp Everest and the recovery rate from oral medication was not going to meet my deadlines for my acclimating process.
A rescue operation was put in place by the emergency team at base camp and I was evacuated to a Kathmandu hospital to get a much stronger treatment in a hospital with intravenous medication.
The medical team at base camp as well as emergency response did everything in their hands to help me with the infection.
I was very impressed with my acclimating process and so were they. The first time I tested 89%, the second time I was 91% and the following was 87%, the doctors at base camp joke and said “we have a Canadian Sherpa”
“I said I… trained for this very hard and this has a very strong purpose not only in my life, but also a major impact to society. I told them that those who have a great impact in me will always be in my heart.
As much as I trained hard, I never trained my body to climb Mt. Everest with a stomach infection for 17 days. I dream and so the team did that I was going to recover, we thought I could control it with oral antibiotics, but after scrutinizing pain, cramps and diarrhea we realized it needed a major treatment I have left base camp in an emergency evacuation with tears in my eyes, got to the hospital and learned that even never knew that also due to some related water contamination intake I had been developing a urinating infection as well.”
“The same one that will silently develop later in my climb if I had not made the call the evacuation from ER and rescue and give them the green light.”
“I did this for the love of life, to encourage, educate and advocate.”
“According to Sukriti (medical team at the hospital) having continued in my climb and at the speed rate I was losing (magnesium, potassium, etc) due to diarrhea, I could eventually have organ failure.
My message continues as the man who survives adversity not the man who became another number, an statistic and the man who cares and protected my climbing partner and friend Pasang Lama.
The most rewarding thing I saw yesterday was a video he posted of him playing with his kids back at his home and that had more value to me than anything else.”
“That video showed me that I succeeded.”
“I will recover and I can wait to see my land, my family, my friends my team and all of those who offered such amazing support.
Mountains are going nowhere and I know now that Everest is and will be with opened arms for me.
The mountain accepted me and my acclimating was amazing.
I am proud of my lungs and heart and for all I did. Happy I could also impact many lives in Nepal, Got new brothers and sisters, got an adopted mom and a dad and no one can say I left a bad feeling. Thank you Nepal, thank you lovely people, I will miss you all.”
