Jason Kennison: Australian Climber Who Taught Himself To Walk Again After Accident Dies On Everest
Jason Kennison, 40, from Perth, had spent years preparing for his fundraising climb of Mount Everest after surviving a horrific car accident and being told he would never walk again. Tragically, the climber became unresponsive near the summit on Friday and died from altitude sickness.
In 20016, Mr Kennison survived a horrific car crash when a road train smashed into the vehicle he was in while travelling to work.
The accident left the mechanic with serious injuries, including a broken femur, a dislocated shoulder, and a brain hemorrhage.
He had an interview with 7News earlier this month, he said: "I didn't want to accept that there was anything permanently wrong, physically wrong, mentally wrong.
"I dealt with it probably in a default mode, which was to ignore a lot of the signs and just push through physically.
"Looking back, I was ticking boxes just to get back to work and just to seem normal."
The crash left Mr Kennison having to learn how to walk again - before suffering further spinal nerve damage years later.
He continued his dream of climbing Mount Everest to raise money for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia.
Asian Trekking chief Dawa Steven Sherpa confirmed that after reaching the summit of Mt Everest on Friday, Mr Kennison was brought down to the Balcony area.
He said: "Since the oxygen cylinders that they had with them were running out, they decided to descend to Camp 4 hoping to climb back again with oxygen cylinders to rescue him.
"It was high wind and bad weather that prevented them from going back to bring him down. He died at the Balcony area."
The death of Mr Kennison was confirmed by his family with an announcement on Facebook.
The post said: "It is with absolute broken hearts that our dearly beloved brother, son, cousin, and friend sadly passed away on Friday 19th (of May) climbing Mt Everest. "He achieved his goal of reaching the peak... he stood on top of the world but sadly didn't come home. He was the most courageous, adventurous human we knew."
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