Family Was Told Their Loved One Died on Everest — Until Sherpas Found Him Alive and Barely Clinging to Life
Climbing Mount Everest is often described as the ultimate test of human strength, but for one Australian mountaineer, it became a battle between life, death, and a miracle few could ever imagine.
In 2006, veteran climber Lincoln Hall pushed toward the roof of the world — unaware that he was about to become part of one of Everest’s most extraordinary survival stories.
A Deadly Emergency Near the Summit
Hall had spent years preparing for the expedition. He knew the dangers well: bone-chilling winds, dwindling oxygen, and terrain where a single misstep could be fatal. But near the summit — at a staggering 8,600 meters (28,200 feet) — everything went terribly wrong.
Hall suddenly developed cerebral edema, a dangerous swelling of the brain caused by extreme altitude. His condition rapidly deteriorated. His Sherpa team worked tirelessly for hours trying to revive him, but as darkness fell and temperatures plunged, they made a heartbreaking decision.
Believing he had died, and facing their own fight for survival, they left him on the mountain.
Back home, Lincoln’s family received the devastating news: he was gone.
Except… he wasn’t.
A Shocking Discovery the Next Morning
Against every imaginable odd, Hall survived the night.
The next morning, climber Dan Mazur and his team — Andrew Brash, Myles Osborne, and Jangbu Sherpa — were making their way toward the summit. As they moved along a narrow ridge above an 8,000-foot drop, they noticed something impossible:
A man sitting upright, wearing only a thin fleece, no gloves, no hat, and no oxygen tank.
It was Lincoln Hall.
Disoriented, hallucinating, and freezing, he genuinely believed he was on a boat — not stranded on the world’s deadliest mountain.
Mazur later recalled that Hall looked at them calmly and said:
“I imagine you’re surprised to see me here.”
A Life Saved at the Cost of a Summit
Mazur’s team faced an unspoken but enormous decision: continue their climb or sacrifice their summit attempt to try to save a dying stranger.
They didn’t hesitate.
The climbers outfitted Hall with oxygen, warm clothing, food, and water. For hours, they stayed with him on the exposed ridge, doing everything they could to keep him alive until help arrived.
“You can always come back to climb the summit,” Mazur said, “but a life is something you don’t get back.”
Their courage defied the brutal calculus of high-altitude climbing, where self-preservation is often the only rule.
The Long Journey Back Down
Rescue teams eventually helped guide Hall to the North Col and later to Advanced Base Camp. His recovery was long and painful. He suffered frostbite and organ stress, and lost fingers and a toe — yet he survived what should have been an impossible night.
Hall later explained that he held no anger toward the team who initially left him behind. They had believed he was gone — and in those conditions, they had little choice.
Mazur’s heroism quickly became international news. He received thousands of messages, as well as recognition from political leaders and organizations across the country.
Life After the Miracle
Lincoln Hall didn’t fade quietly after the ordeal. Inspired by Tibetan Buddhism and determined to share what he had learned, he wrote “Dead Lucky: Life After Death on Mount Everest.” The book offered a profound look into the experience of standing on the edge of life — and somehow stepping back.
He continued climbing, writing, and supporting humanitarian work in Nepal until his passing in 2012, at the age of 56.
Hall died from mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer linked to asbestos exposure from his younger years working construction — not from his Everest injuries.
He left behind his wife and two sons, as well as a legacy of resilience, gratitude, and an almost unbelievable story of survival.