SEPANG, Climber Muhammad Illaham Ishak, who was stranded while participating in a climbing expedition to Mount Denali, Alaska in the United States, revealed that he decided to go down to camp five on the mountain by himself to get a private helicopter to help his friends who were trapped due to bad weather while descending from the summit, on May 28.
He said despite the risk of going down alone to get emergency help in the 15-hour journey from the top of the mountain, the move had to be taken immediately as Zulkifli Yusuf’s condition had worsened and he had injured his leg.
“I actually went down to find a private helicopter to go directly to pick up Ajoi (Zulkifli) at the Football Field, but there was no service, only rangers and they couldn’t go up because of the bad weather.
“The rangers looked at my hands and feet, they said I had High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) and told me to come down immediately and not wait long.
“It is true that the helicopter that was there at the time was supposed to take
Ajoi through a bucket, then take me and go down, but considering the bad weather and my health, they decided to take me first and take me down,” he told the media after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, here last night.
His arrival at KLIA was greeted with shouts of thanks and Allahu Akhbar by his family and friends who were waiting for his return following the tragedy that happened to him and two other Malaysian climbers after successfully conquering Mount Denali on May 27.
Muhammad Illaham, who is also the Malaysian Alpine Tour Club president said that once he was brought down, he was immediately taken to the hospital and admitted to the emergency ward because he suffered level three frostbite.
At the same time, Muhammad Illaham said he was worried about the condition of Zulkifli and Zainudin Lot, who were at the Football Field at a height of 5,791 metres which is located between the Denali peak and Camp Five.
“I hope that tomorrow (May 29), the helicopter will be able to go up, but appare
ntly it cannot take them because of the bad weather.
“Last Friday (May 31), the ranger was able to go up but everyone was surprised because apparently Ajoi had left us two days earlier. I was really surprised when I was told by Wisma Putra,” he said at the same time relieved that another friend, Zainudin, managed to be brought down using a bucket.
Zulkifli reportedly died at 6 am local time, on May 29, while taking shelter in a snow cave known as ‘Football Field’, with the cause of death suspected to be HAPE.
His body was safely brought down from the incident scene at 8.30 am on June 1 local time, with the help of local authorities.
Muhammad Illaham also expressed gratitude to Allah for being safe from the tragedy.
“I surrendered to God since the night of the storm and until today, I have faced many challenges. Indeed, it is Allah who helps everything and thanks to the prayers of all family and friends,” he said.
Muhammad Illaham together with two other climbers, Zainudin, 48, and Zulkifli, 37, arrived
at the summit of Mount Denali with a height of 6,190 meters at around 11pm on May 27 (local time).
Muhammad Illaham has earlier completed climbing some of the highest peaks such as Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa; Mount Elbrus, Russia; Mount Everest, Nepal; Mount Aconcagua, Argentina and Mount Carstensz, Indonesia.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency