Rajan Pokhrel

Kathmandu:

Mountaineering is fun and there are many among us who dream of climbing and conquering new heights, actually and metaphorically. Ms Gloria Brigheti, 36, of Italy, had a similar thirst for adventure. Late one evening on April 24, Gloria had a new adventure entered into the diary of her life. She survived death when lightning struck her tent at an altitude of 6,500 m during her scaling of Cho-Oyu, her first attempt to scale a mountain over 8000 m.

Gloria is a professional nurse with a decade of experience in rescue work. She has saved dozens hurt in avalanche or suffering from altitude sickness. This was Gloria’s first visit to Nepal. She landed as member of Dream Cho-Oyu Expedition 2005.

The day was cloudy. There had been light snowfall. When the 11-member team reached third camp (6,400 m) from base camp (4,800 m), they got busy pitching tents and cooking. At 8.30 pm, lightning struck Gloria’s tent. Her helper Man Bahadur Gurung was with others 200 m below.

“I fell unconscious. I don’t have any idea of the next two hours,” Gloria said to THT in Kathmandu on Friday. Gloria’s teammates had no idea of her situation till 9.30. Team member Fabrizio Manoni recalled, “Man Bahadur found her. Nobody slept that night. Team doctor Dr Markus was busy with her.”

It was now Gloria’s turn being rescued. “I came to only after I was kept in oxygen for an hour but could not move for another two days,” she said. Dr Marcus advised her to return to Italy for treatment. Her expedition came to an abrupt end. But Gloria is undefeated. “I will come back next year and climb this mountain,” she averred before returning to her home country on Saturday. “We feel Gloria’s been given a new life,” Nimanuru Sherpa, an organiser, said.

According to mountaineers, danger of lightning is a significant one. Lightning claimed the lives of two Italian mountaineers a decade ago. Though Gloria, who was team leader, has left, the rest of the team will continue to the summit. The team now comprises Pierre Henri Feuillet (France), Miguel Alvarez Merrr (Spain), Raul OF ( Spain), Johan WG (Belgium), Tom EG (Belgium), Sandra Alice (France), Emmanuel AJ (France), Maxut Zhumayev (Kazakhstan), Vassiliy Pivtsov (Kazakhstan) and Simone Terra(Italy).