Hiker Lost in Snowstorm on Nepal Mountain Rescued After 47 Days

Andrew McFarlane
Published: April 28,2017
After a perilous 47 days stranded on a mountain in Nepal with only salt and water to survive on, a Taiwanese man was rescued Wednesday. His girlfriend had died just three days before his rescue.
Liang Shen Yueh, who turned 21 on Friday, told the Associated Press he and his girlfriend, 19-year-old Liu Chen Chun, where hiking the Ganesh Himal Trail when a snowstorm caused them to go off course.
Without a guide, the two followed a river in hopes of finding a village before falling over a waterfall. The couple then landed on a rocky ledge beneath the falls, where they were unable to climb up or down, said Madhav Basnet, an official with the Asian Trekking agency.
The couple used the food they had in their backpacks for the first two weeks but had to rely on just salt and water to survive once they ran out of food.
Rescue crews scoured the area for two weeks after the couple was reported missing, but then had to suspend their search. Crews resumed the search April 20.
On Wednesday, rescuers caught glimpse of the couple’s red tent stranded on a ledge beneath the waterfall and climbed down to them.
"We found the man alive and able to speak to us, but the woman was already dead. We could not carry them so we called a helicopter,"said Basnet.
(WATCH: Pilot Makes Smooth Emergency Landing)
Rescuers transported both Liang and the body of his girlfriend to Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu. He was checked into  Grande Hospital, where, despite losing 66 pounds and being extremely exhausted, he appeared to be in good health.
"He was suffering from severe malnutrition. His foot was covered with maggots and hair full of lice,” Ajay Singh Thapa, a doctor at the hospital, told the Associated Press. “Despite having to live like that for 47 days, he appears to be mostly normal.”
MORE: Nepal Reopens World Heritage Sites After Earthquake

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