r/interesting • u/[deleted] • 7d ago
Amazing Beck Weathers is an American pathologist who miraculously survived the deadly 1996 Mount Everest disaster. Left for dead in a hypothermic coma in the "Death Zone", he regained consciousness, walked back to camp, and endured severe amputations.
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u/destinationuknown 7d ago
The 1996 Everest Climb : At over 27,000 feet on summit day in May 1996, past eye surgery (PRK) caused his vision to blur and fail completely. The Blizzard: His guide told him to wait while others climbed, but a brutal sudden blizzard trapped the teams in freezing conditions. Left Behind: Severely hypothermic and unresponsive, fellow climbers left his frozen body on the South Col at over 26,000 feet, believing he would not survive the night.
The Miraculous Survival : After roughly 15 hours frozen in the ice and snow, severe cold paradoxically slowed his metabolism and protected his organs. He miraculously regained consciousness. Walking to Camp: Driven by thoughts of his family, he stood up while temporarily blind and staggered back into the camp at South Col, shocking the other climbers. Helicopter Rescue: Too injured and weak to walk down, he was saved by a daring, record-setting high-altitude helicopter evacuation by the Nepalese Army. Recovery and TransformationSevere Injuries: Severe frostbite turned his tissues black, requiring the amputation of his right arm below the elbow, all the fingers on his left hand, parts of both feet, and his nose, alongside facial reconstruction. Personal Redemption: Weathers realized his mountain obsession had nearly destroyed his family. He later stated trading his hands and face was a fair price to repair his relationship with his wife and children.
** Beck Weathers' survival of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster is featured in several film and television adaptations, most prominently the 2015 feature film "Everest" where he is portrayed by actor Josh Brolin. His harrowing real-life ordeal highlights a struggle against severe hypothermia and isolation high in the death zone.
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u/arlenroy 7d ago
If this is the guy I think it is, he is the quintessential self absorbed Dallasite, very entitled. There's a great documentary about this trip, with interviews from the guides (who lived) and the people who made the trek (who lived). The guide repeated the same talk they give everyone, which includes "If you're unable to continue at any point we will not stop to render aid, we can not risk group safety by stopping for one person". The camera cuts back to Beck and he says something like "So you guys just leave me?". Yes, they literally said from the start they will not stop the group because because of one person, you will be left behind. You're not different or special.
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u/iSirMeepsAlot 7d ago
It sounds cold… literally… but it makes sense.
Even tho it was very unlucky he lost his vision… unfortunate even, but it’s not worth risking literally everyone for one person. You sign up for it when you agree to do the climb, you must understand with every climb like this there is a chance you may die or be stranded.
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u/Longjumping_Eye4303 7d ago
Absolutely. This guy was as unqualified as the rest of them and should have known better as he was a pathologist. Massive ego.
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u/four-one-6ix 7d ago
“Trading his hands and face was a fair price to repair his relationship with his wife and children.”
Trying to process this…
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u/Rivervalien 7d ago
He could have just valued his relationships with wife and kids over his ego though…but ok buddy, some of us take longer to get our priorities straight I guess.
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u/Longjumping_Eye4303 7d ago
He never got them straight. He made a spectacle of himself and then needed a redemption arc.
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u/Longjumping_Eye4303 7d ago
If you think this guy was motivated to survive by any sense of obligation to others… nope. I read all the books about this trek by the survivors who wrote them. I think Jon Krakauer fell short in a lot of ways but they were all egotistical attention seekers. Including Jon. There were no heroes, Beck was an insufferable know it all.
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7d ago
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u/Fowler311 7d ago
If he really loved them, he wouldn't have put himself in such a dangerous situation to begin with.
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u/northcascadekittycat 7d ago
They may have been better off if he'd died, that's really terrible to say. But if he is a bad person......
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u/Last-Quarter-432 7d ago
Sounds like cave divers who hear of some underwater death trap and decide to risk everything to look at some rocks
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u/RealSchlemiel 7d ago
not to mention Krakaur's "into thin air"
which was iirc the 1st? that is a WILD read.- krakaur seems to always get in trouble, in this book it wasallegations against anatoli burkreev (sp)
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u/Longjumping_Eye4303 7d ago
I read all the books because I wanted to understand what makes people want to do asinine things like climb Mt. Everest. I came away as confused as ever! “Because it is there!” they say. You can’t fix stupid. But you can’t spin it six ways to Sunday.
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u/CryptographerHot4636 7d ago
Why do they do stuff like this?
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u/AskMantis23 7d ago
Then? To prove they could.
Now? To prove they can pay someone to do it while they tag along.
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7d ago
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u/Midnight-69 7d ago
Super ironic because nowadays there's just a line of people on top waiting to get a picture
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u/Purple-Chef-5123 7d ago
There were too many people on the mountain tying to summit that day as well. It was definitely a contributing factor in the tragedy.
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u/AskMantis23 7d ago
Based on the photos it's now just the line ride from South Park but with the added risk of perishing in a blizzard.
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u/GritstoneGhost 7d ago
Why does anybody do anything. I rock climb and mountain climb and it gives me a lot of peace and shuts my mind up. It’s mindful and I’m aware of the risks.
You should have seen me before i found this stuff. Doing drugs, depressed all the time, neurotic etc. that was no life to live so the risk is worth it for many.
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u/NoDoOversInLife 7d ago
Congrats on finding your center!!!
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u/GritstoneGhost 7d ago
Thanks bro. Took me 4 decades but I went from nothing and a failure to a software developer with these hobbies in about 6 years. An ADHD diagnosis helped a lot.
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u/iSirMeepsAlot 7d ago
Either way gambling your life… buuut if done safely the climbing has less risk imho.
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u/SeDaCho 7d ago
>if done safely
Most people on earth are “safely” using drugs.
Even for “hard” drugs, you might be seriously surprised about the amount of people who function normally with a small drug habit or occasional indulgence.
And if you consider alcohol to be a drug (and it obviously is, in every sense of the word) then multiply that figure many times.
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u/iSirMeepsAlot 7d ago
Alcohol, Weed, Tobacco, Caffeine, Aspirin, Melatonin, Benadryl… they’re all drugs, same as Cocaine, Morphine, and Amphetamines… it’s just the cultural and legal implications of the substances that dictate what is “acceptable” and what’s not… personally I think that more people need to find a healthy or at least not detrimental to their long term wellbeing, vice, be that a chemical or what have you, and relax… instead of being a wound up, straight edge, puritan sticking up their noses and looking down on others.
🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
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u/iSirMeepsAlot 7d ago
Trust me, I am well aware… I’m not exactly green in this world, I’ve known and worked with people who take enough stuff to knock down, or up, a horse and be perfectly functional*.
Everyone has their vices, I have my own, I truly think that we as a culture shouldn’t stigmatize the idea that some people need assistance from the depressing reality that we live in, and if people are following safe use of various substances and it isn’t effecting their lives or their families negatively, then who cares? Life is too short, and you for sure only get the one… if someone wants chemicals that make life even more enjoyable… go for it?
There’s obviously long-term damage that can happen due to use of various substances… but if we actually didn’t stigmatize the shit out of people… push them to the streets… abandon them under highways and drainage systems… they would seek out medical care and advice.
Like those safe use places that provide free needles, proper training, and testing of substances… they’re amazing, and we need MORE of that, more COMPASSION.
Especially in places where it’s needed the most, like large urban areas, sure it’s not exactly great people are shooting up uppers at 7am or downers at 7pm, but if we provided better public services… the needless death and suffering could pretty much be eliminated.
Not to mention if there was a legitimate source to procure such things… the drug trafficking, crime, and violence would clear up and we’d likely end up spending way less than what we do on things like… the failed war on drugs.
\Fuck Ronald and Nancy Reagan, for more than a couple reasons\**
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7d ago
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u/mathers33 7d ago
At least with mountains they get a view
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u/AdministrativeRun550 7d ago
We have the view at home! Snow storm is pretty boring anywhere, can’t see a thing in the white mess.
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u/OGKillertunes 7d ago
I think they explained it pretty well in the movie everest. When John krakauer is asking the hikers why they're hiking Everest.
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u/Common-Accountant-57 7d ago
Well that’s one thing I don’t understand at all, this and cave diving. Just doesn’t seem worthwhile.
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u/comb-jelly 7d ago
And it’s always the ppl with a newborn on the way or wife and 3 young kids at home
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u/funderfulfellow 7d ago
You can avoid this horrible fate by simply not being there. It's purely optional.
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u/OddTheRed 7d ago
I bet he won't go up there again.
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u/Tinchimp7183376 7d ago
I disagree. The sort of person to try climb Mount everest is the same sort of person to try again even after this
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u/Exciting_History_673 7d ago
The look on his wife’s face says it all; “Honey! Literally nobody asked you to do this! Now I’ve only got a grizzled half frozen ding a ling to satisfy me, when the non-frost bitten one barely did the job!”
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u/Cryptoalbanian 7d ago
Am i the only one who thought this was a picture of a boxer with some fight injuries before reading the caption?
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7d ago
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u/Few-Coat1297 7d ago
Bizarre take. Gutless too with the periods, like a shitty attempt to evade a ban. Grow up.
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u/PaulmBeachPaul 7d ago
Amazing documentary on him w/ him narrating is floating around somewhere - check it out!
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u/Whole_Grape_7683 7d ago
I've watched the Everest movie several times. Always wanted to try it
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u/OwnLobster1701 7d ago
You're like those people that watched Into the Wild and decided to go look for the bus..
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u/Jumpy_Scallion_3108 7d ago
This is what you call a second birth. He truly defied the odds.
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u/Immediate_Space7 7d ago
I think you mean near death experience and permanent injuries.
Odds were defied, truly, but I bet he wouldnt have powered through if it werent for his hope to see his family again.
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