Chongqing - On May 18th, at 11:57 am Beijing time, Wang Minglong, a young man from Chongqing, reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the first person with ankylosing spondylitis, a challenging medical condition, to achieve this feat.
Wang Minglong, a young man from Chongqing, reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the first person with ankylosing spondylitis to achieve this feat. (Photo/Wang Minglong)
Wang Minglong, driven by his dreams, embarked on a journey to conquer Mount Everest. Diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis at the age of 12, he was told that he might spend his life in a wheelchair. However, inspired by the protagonist Forrest Gump, he defies the odds and fights against his condition with unwavering determination. Instead of succumbing to a wheelchair, he became an avid outdoor enthusiast.
Recently, he embarked on his journey to Mount Everest. After a 7-day trek, Wang Minglong reached the Everest Base Camp in Nepal at an altitude of 5,364 meters.
Wang Minglong reached the Everest Base Camp in Nepal at an altitude of 5,364 meters. (Photo/Wang Minglong)
"The high altitude made it difficult to sleep at night due to severe headaches. Many team members experienced various challenges," recalled Wang Minglong. Initially, everyone struggled to get used to the thin oxygen levels at high altitudes. After five to six days of gradual adjustment, the team started ascending to higher altitudes for training.
Summit Mount Everest without spare oxygen tanks
The official climb took a total of eight days. On May 14th, they departed at 2 am and arrived at Camp 2 on Mount Everest at 5 pm. The journey was treacherous due to the dangerous Khumbu Icefall at night and unpredictable weather conditions during the day.
On the evening of May 17th, they began their ascent towards the summit.
An unexpected situation arose after ascending approximately 200 meters, requiring Wang Minglong's guide, the team leader, to return to the camp. Wang Minglong found himself walking alone at the forefront of the team.
Wang Minglong found himself walking alone at the forefront of the team. (Photo/Wang Minglong)
After covering a distance of over 600 meters, Wang Minglong suddenly realized that he needed to change oxygen tanks at least twice, but his spare tanks were with the team leader. Being left without oxygen on Everest would be a death sentence.
With no spare oxygen tanks available among the team members, Wang Minglong waited for over twenty minutes, feeling a chilling sensation all over. He realized that if he didn't take action, he might freeze to death before help arrived. At that moment, Wang Minglong had 180 atmospheres of pressure left in his oxygen tank, enough to reach the summit. However, it meant he would run out of oxygen on the way back.
"There are many problems in life that may not have perfect solutions. It all comes down to courage," said Wang Minglong. He decided to continue his journey toward the summit.
View the summit's scenery, make dreams come true
He turned the valve on his oxygen tank down to save oxygen, having to stop and catch his breath after every step. After climbing a vertical 12-meter-high ice wall, Wang Minglong suffered from severe oxygen deprivation, kneeling on the ground as he desperately inhaled oxygen.
"I couldn't bear it any longer, so I forcefully pulled my backpack forward and opened the valve wide." To Wang Minglong's surprise, opening the valve wider made it harder for him to breathe, and he felt a suffocating sensation overwhelm him.
It was thanks to a reminder from a guide from another team that he discovered the connector of his oxygen tank had been torn off. "I quickly reconnected the tube and knelt there, inhaling oxygen for ten minutes."
Finally, Wang Minglong achieved his dream as he reached the summit. The fierce wind mixed with snow particles battered his face at the pinnacle of the world's highest peak, and at that moment, he held one belief in his heart, "Having witnessed the view from the summit, I must come back alive!"
On the way back, oxygen ran out
When Wang Minglong reached the southern summit, his energy and oxygen were nearly depleted during the descent. His vision blurred, and it was at this moment that the team leader appeared. "I crawled up to him, knelt down, and clung to his thigh, crying uncontrollably, feeling like I had finally been rescued." The guide swiftly replaced Wang Minglong's oxygen.
Wang Minglong descends alone. (Photo/Wang Minglong)
"Under normal circumstances, I would have no problem descending alone, but because I exerted too much physical strength on the ascent, the journey back down became long and painful." Wang Minglong recalled that due to the 18 steel nails in his body from his ankylosing spondylitis surgery, he couldn't turn his neck back, which meant he had to navigate some sections blindly during the descent. This led to him falling into a crevasse. Thankfully, his backpack absorbed most of the impact, allowing him to get back up.
It took Wang Minglong 21 hours to reach the summit, several times longer than his companions.
Fighting against fate, he spared no effort
"You risked your life!" many friends remarked upon hearing about Wang Minglong's experience. However, he believed, "How would you know if you're capable unless you give it your all?"
During his years of struggle against destiny, Wang Minglong had already understood the meaning of "spare no effort."
"Faced with a difficulty, you have two choices – embrace it or resent it." Wang Minglong believed it would be impossible to stand at the top of the world without enduring these hardships. The suffering, crises, and blizzards he encountered along the way were all part of mountaineering, just like the pain his illness brought him. Instead of complaining, he appreciated and felt them and then overcame them.
(Yang Yuanchun, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)