Nicholas Rice: Broad Peak Dispatch

2007 Broad Peak Expedition

Dispatch Forty-Nine: July 28th, 2007

Day Forty-Nine: Day in Skardu; Ana (Poland) in Intensive Care

Today, I woke up at 8:00am refreshed from a good night’s sleep off the ground. We had a leisurely breakfast downstairs at which we were relieved not to be limited to one egg per person as we had been in base camp. The five of us walked around the bazaar, exchanging money, refilling medication that had been utilized from our first aid kit, and “window” shopping (their aren’t very many shops with windows in Skardu). After this, we had lunch, then headed over to the internet café to check email, etc.. Upon my arrival at the hotel, the major met me and we filled out some forms for the Military Intelligence Office in Skardu. Afterwards, I tended to my drying laundry, repacked my duffel bags for delivery to Islamabad and the subsequent international flights home, worked on my computer, and headed to dinner. At dinner, we discovered that Ana (from Poland) had been evacuated from base camp via helicopter and was in the hospital in Islamabad. She had been struck by a large piece of ice in the shoulder and clots had apparently developed, reducing circulation to her arm, and presenting a relatively dangerous possibility (if they dislodged) of a pulmonary embolism. The doctors here thought it best to remove them. We chatted for awhile about her situation and went to bed.