UKC

This is the report from a lightweight climbing trip to the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan where a technical line on an unclimbed 6000m peak does not go as planned...

"...he had lost the vision in his left eye, describing it as milky and cloudy with a strange sensation of pressure... that probably meant a bleed inside his skull somewhere. We had to accept that he might deteriorate and die..."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=5984

In reply to UKC Articles:

Wow, quite a tale! Thanks, Rich, for sharing it. Glad Richmond made it home, that helmet photo is quite scary.

Oh, and congratulations!

In reply to Mal Grey:

F*ck.

We're having a very namby pamby discussion about first aid on another thread at the moment. For my part, I'm a bit embarrassed about it now.

It sounds like Richmond self-stabilised, but were there any medical interventions that you made which you felt made a difference? Or was it just a question of general support and a lot of silent prayer? Whichever, just getting yourselves out of there was some achievement - and something which you're being overly modest about. How's Richmond getting on?

In reply to maisie: Richmond is fortunately fine (tough old beggar as Rich says). We realised quickly that there wasn't much we could do for him with our knowledge and resources. We did make a collar to support his head and neck out of a sam splint which he wore for a few days when travelling on foot and horseback but I'm not sure how effective it was.

In reply to AlH:

Even tough old beggars need support - clearly Richmond wouldn't have got off that mountain himself. Looking at the outcome, whatever you did was clearly effective.

Out of interest, do you know what the final diagnosis was in Richmond's case?

In reply to UKC Articles:

Ouch. Never nice to read of a head injury. How is the chap doing?

In reply to cuppatea:

I believe he's doing fine. He has, since that trip, survived some personal attention from a hippopotamus and (a) some crocodiles. He's a serial adventurer and New Zealander/ South African: those guys don't discuss feelings and how sore they are. That would suggest he's in good enough shape though.

In reply to Mal Grey:

Thanks Man.

In reply to Murko Fuzz:

Good to hear!

In reply to UKC Articles:
Scary and impressive stuff.

In reply to UKC Articles:

gripping story, thanks for posting it.

In reply to UKC Articles:

What the last guy said - Impressive, thanks for sharing.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Shiptonesque. Respect.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Glad to hear he is OK, that helmet picture didn't promise such a positive end of story. I believe there was no time to take a picture of that tiny piece of rock that caused it. Definitely good job done by the helmet.