A Sherpa Went Missing in Mount Everest's 'Death Zone.' Funeral Rites Had Begun. Then the Unthinkable Happened
This story has all the makings of a future Hollywood blockbuster.
Just think: a popular sherpa went missing in Mount Everest's so-called "death zone." He was presumed dead, so much so that funeral rites had already started. Then, out of nowhere, he's found alive.
The Nepali guide is Dawa Sherpa. He was last seen on May 29. The group he was climbing with grew worried when Dawa did not reach the base camp.
For six excruciating days, search and rescue groups -- including a helicopter -- went looking for the 52-year-old. A fellow climber said Dawa was last seen in the so-called "death zone," where oxygen levels are almost nonexistent after summiting the 29,032 feet.
According to The Guardian, Dawa's family had already accepted his fate. In fact, the outlet reported that the family was already on the second day of a funeral ritual that usually lasts several days.
After six days, a miracle occurred: a group of garbage collectors found Dawa. The Guardian reports that the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee -- which lays the ladders and ropes used by climbers and then removes them and the trash after the climbers leave -- found Dawa "as he crawled down the snowy slopes around the Khumbu icefall, just above base camp," The Guardian reports.
Dawa reportedly had severe frostbite in his hands and was dehydrated, but was otherwise in good health.
He was carried down and later flown by helicopter to a hospital, where his wife and daughter waited for him, still shocked at what they had seen on the local news, which is how they found out Dawa was found alive.
"When we first heard about it [the rescue], we could not be sure if that person was indeed our father," the daughter said, via The Guardian. "So to be certain we asked for photos to be sent and then only we were sure and very happy."
The sherpa, who was briefly left behind when he went to save another climber, later told BBC Nepali the harrowing ordeal he experienced.
"As the oxygen ran out, I couldn't walk," he said. "I didn't think I would be alive. I thought I would perish this way."
Dawa told BBC Nepali that he survived by eating chocolate and chewing ice.
"I didn't eat anything for the first two days," he explained. "Then I began chewing ice. It hurt my teeth. I chewed the ice hard."
Dawa's story is nothing short of a miracle.
"If there was someone else in his place," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, via The Guardian, "they might not have survived."
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 11:44 AM.