Family reveals climber Cheruiyot Kirui's possible cause of death

24 May 2024

• The family said Cheruiyot lost radio communication with base camp early morning of May 22, 2024 on his summit push

Banker and Mountain climber Cheruiyot Kirui died near the summit of Mr Everest.

Days before the announcement of his death he had been pronounced missing.

A statement by his family says they are saddened by what happened to their kin as they gave an update of what they know.

The family said Cheruiyot lost radio communication with the base camp in the early morning of May 22, 2024, on his summit push.

"He was reported missing by his expedition company and immediately a team of rescue sherpas stationed at camp 4 were dispatched to the point of last contact."

The statement went on to reveal that Cheruiyot's body was discovered at an altitude of 8,800m, 48 meters from the summit.

"Whereas it is not possible to determine the exact sequence of events, we know that Cheruiyot and his sherpa guide, Nawang Sherpa, took a fall. "

"We extend our condolences to his friends, colleagues and the wider outdoor community. Search for Nawang Sherpa continues and we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family in Nepal and pray that he is found."

The family promised to share more information in due course.

"Thank you and God bless you. Cheruiyot's Family."

In his last Instagram message, Kirui gave a detailed plan of how he was going to reach the mountain's summit.

After 10 Basecamp days.

But there were parties in honour of successful summits. Kazakh party was particularly lively celebrating first Kazakh woman summiting Everest (powered by Kenyan armband)

My plan

A no-oxygen attempt comes with it's special preparations and risks, physically my body is ready. On the other risks, I'm taking the following measures;

Cold

Without oxygen one is much more susceptible to frostbite. So I have; Hands: Pair of heated gloves, pair of heated mittens with a spare set of batteries.Feet: Two pairs of heated socks with a spare set of batteries.

Meds

I'm susceptible to HAPE so I'm armed with Nifedipine. For HACE I have Dexamethasone. And Acetazolamide. Manaslu taught me well, having had an episode of HAPE and no meds.

Emergency oxygen

Nawang Sherpa will ferry an emergency bottle of oxygen to be used;If I go lights out or if I go bananasIf I'm time barredUnfavorable weatherBody limit reached: when I realize I'm no supermanTraffic jam: I'd planned to climb from the Tibet/North side to avoid traffic. But here we are, hopefully we get to avoid it.

And so after heavy investment physically, mentally, timewise (this expedition is taking more than a month from a regular 8 to 5 banker), financially (the amount of zeros needed to make this happen means I declare bankruptcy immediately I land back in Kenya)...it's now the moment of truth.

As usual we reconvene here in a few days to see how things will have turned out.