It was more than luck that saved him from a deadly combination of hypoglycemia and mild hypothermia at high altitudes.
If you’re a mountaineer, you’ll understand what it’s like to be in Mount Apo for the first time. On that particular climb in April 2005, their group was supposed to stay for only three days. But feeling bitin, they’ve decided to stay an extra day. All 12 of them who went on the climb were all experienced mountaineers.
On their fourth day, they were scheduled to start their descent. Being allergic to chocolates, He didn’t take anything for breakfast, since his co-mountaineers made chocolate pancakes. Instead of eating, he went sleep until late that morning. When he woke up, he had a stomachache… he thought…. He’s just hungry… he took some bread, but the pain became intense, like he had a bad case of LBM…
Five hours into their hike back, his head started to feel heavy… he shrugged it off, thinking it was just fatigue. An hour later, he was having stomach pains, a headache, and nausea. But still, he kept on pushing because all he wanted was to get to the jeep that would take them back to Davao City. Five minutes before they’ve reached their pick-up point, he was vomiting heavily, feeling dizzy and disoriented.
The last thing he remembered is seeing the national rock and a small waiting shed along the curve. He put his pack of the ground and sat down. That was when he had convulsions and attacks, which he have no memory of.
It took a while for the jeep to arrive. His co-mountaineers said that he was unconscious for about two hours. He was breathing heavily, shaking violently, and uttering incoherent phrases the whole time. Fortunately, he was with the most competent mountaineers…
One was even medical student…. Immediately they warmed him up and massaged his lymph nodes and the pressure points in his feet. They gave him candy to chew and made sure that he was in a comfortable position, securing his head and his neck from impulsive movement. They also massaged some warming oil on his chest to keep him from getting too cold… Ammonia was also used to stimulate his senses….
A story that quit similar happened to me, though I’m not a mountaineer but wish to be one of them….I too experienced hypothermia which I’ve already posted… having such incident is a excruciating…. you’re body temperature will suddenly drop down to normal level… the frigid start from down your feet upward with involuntary movement of the muscles accompanied by severe pain…. But fortunately I’m still alive and I thank God for saving from such dreaded illness….
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