A Chinese woman who narrowly avoided death while climbing Mount Everest allegedly refused to pay the Sherpa guide a $10,000 (Rs 8.2 lakh) rescue fee, as per a report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
On May 18, the Sherpa guide discovered the unconscious 50-year-old woman Liu who belongs to Hunan Province in central China near the summit of Mount Everest while escorting climber Fan Jiangtao to the summit. The climber abandoned his dream of reaching the summit and agreed to save Ms Liu.
However, due to the harsh weather conditions, the two men could only move Ms Liu 200 meters. The climber then went in search of assistance on his own and ran across Xie Ruxiang, a fellow climber from the Hunan Provincial Mountain Climbing Association. Mr Xie also gave up his goal of reaching the summit to help with the woman's rescue.
According to SCMP, Mr Xie's Sherpa guide, who is the strongest climber among them, was originally hesitant to assist, but after being promised an incentive of $10,000, he accepted to help in the rescue. It is to be noted that sherpa guides lead mountaineers up the summit in bad weather, prepare their equipment and carry a lot of the gear for a cost of $8,000 (Rs 6.5 lakh) to $10,000 (Rs 8.2 lakh), as per the outlet.
The four men worked together to rescue Ms Liu. The skilled guide carried her on his back and both the climbers took turns to keep her legs elevated to increase blood flow. Ms Liu received treatment for various days before she recovered at the base camp.
As per the report, Ms Liu had successfully reached the peak and was about to begin her descent when she started experiencing difficulties. Mr Fan claims that Ms Liu declined to pay the entire rescue fee when the Sherpa guide inquired about it from the two climbers.
He told the outlet, "Each of us paid the guide tips of $1,800 (1.48 lakh) and she said she would pay $1,500 (Rs 1.2 lakh) as tips. For the rescue fee of $10,000 (Rs 8.2 lakh), Liu said she would only pay $4,000 (Rs 3.2 lakh). What she said angered me. I told her, 'Since that is your attitude, I don't want a cent from you. You don't need to give me any money.'"
Angered by the whole incident, Mr Fan informed SCMP that he had been preparing for 40 days and spent $56,000 (Rs 46 lakh) to reach the peak. "I was unwilling to give up on my plan to reach the peak. What's more, the rescue fee was paid by me. I don't know what to say. I am just wondering why she is reluctant to pay," he further added.
He further went on to say that the woman did not even thank the group. Mr Fan stated, "She is so ungrateful! We don't want to have anything to do with her from now on."
Ms Liu was brutally trolled online for her behaviour. However, the two kind-hearted climbers urged people to show tolerance and stop abusing her.
