bbc.co.uk/news
Mountain climbing is a sport which is
very dangerous. It involves team work and requires ambition and physical
fitness. In this sport, as the height of the mountain to be climbed increases
so does the satisfaction derived. That is why Mount Everest is so popular with
climbers. However, climbing Everest is very different from climbing any other
mountain. It is one of the hardest climb and many climbers have died or were
injured in the attempt. Nevertheless, the story of David Sharp differs from all
the others.
David Sharp, an unlucky young man who
tried to climb Everest, had been left behind by his own team for an unknown
reason. This is not the weirdest and most tragic part of the story: another
group of 40 climbers headed by Mark Inglis found him frozen but still alive and
able to move his eyes. Because they were blinded by ambition and the desire for
glory, none of them stayed with him to take care of him and continued their
journey to the summit. No one knows what David Sharp’s last hours were like and
how long it took him to die.
The question we need to ask ourselves is
this: could they have done anything else? In my opinion a group of people could
have turned back in order to save a human life and could have carried him down
the mountain. They could have tried at least. However, according to the words
of Mark Inglis’ team, he wasn’t healthy enough to withstand the journey.
We don’t know if this is true but if it is, there is something else that they
could have done: one or two members at least could have forgotten about their
ambition and could have stayed with him so that he could die in peace. I think
making a person happy in his last hours is much more important than any success
in life.
To sum up, this story is a controversial
one; there may be some who would disagree but the decision to leave David Sharp
alone is ethically wrong, in my opinion. If the weather conditions had been bad
or if there had been some danger for the other climbers, it would have been
excusable but this was not the case. In short, the behavior of Mark Inglis and
his team was completely unjustified.
BATIHAN TOSUN /INT; last week in
November
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