KATHMANDU: When Hillary Dawa Sherpa was finally found crawling toward Everest Base Camp on the morning of June 4 — seven days after he was left alone in the death zone without food, bottled oxygen or any rescue effort from his own employer — his family had already begun performing his funeral rites. They had been told he would not return.

He did return. And when his story reached the world, the world responded.

A GoFundMe campaign launched with a modest target of €35,000 to cover his mounting medical bills has raised an extraordinary NPR 86,00,000 — more than double the original ask — as donations poured in from strangers across the globe who had never met Dawa but were moved by what he had survived and how he had been treated.

"We will always be grateful," said Nuru Sherpa, the campaign's fundraising coordinator. "Every single person who contributed showed love and support we will never forget."

The campaign was organised by Stephen Sellman, coordinated by Nuru Sherpa, and supported by Michelle Haslam, Ben Ayers of Everest Live, and Sakar Koirala of Sherpa Legend. Within a week of launch, the initial target was cleared. GoFundMe raised the bar to €40,000. Donors cleared that too — and kept giving until the total stood at NPR 86 lakh. For his wife Damu Sherpa and daughter Mendo Lhamu, who had watched helplessly as days passed with no news, the campaign has lifted the weight of medical costs and opened what coordinators described as a new chapter for the family.

Read: Miraculous survival on Mt Everest: Missing Dawa Sherpa found alive after a week, rescued by SPCC team 

Dawa Sherpa, 57, popularly known as Hillary Dawa, is a resident of Khijidemba in Okhaldhunga. A veteran of Nepal's high-altitude industry, he was hired by Himalayan Traverse Adventure Pvt. Ltd. this spring — as a cook at Camp II, not a guide. Due to a shortage of guides on the expedition, he was asked to accompany a Polish client toward the summit. He agreed, for the prospect of a summit bonus.

Left behind, then forgotten

On the evening of May 29 — the last day of Nepal's spring climbing season — Dawa and his Polish client were descending from above the South Col after the client abandoned his summit bid due to frostbite. Dawa ran out of bottled oxygen and lost his walkie-talkie near the Yellow Band above Camp III. His client moved ahead with other descending climbers. Dawa was left behind — alone, at extreme altitude, without oxygen.

What followed was perhaps more damning than the abandonment itself: Himalayan Traverse launched no search and rescue for six days. On May 31, expedition members returned to base camp. The Khumbu Icefall ladders — removed at season's end as standard practice — were taken down. Dawa was still up there.

Over the next several days, he survived on chocolates found in his pocket and melted ice, slowly descending through one of the world's most treacherous terrains without supplemental oxygen. On June 2, he fell into a deep crevasse in the Khumbu Icefall and remained trapped for nearly two-and-a-half days. An avalanche eventually sent snow cascading in, creating a ramp he used to climb out. He continued crawling downward.

On June 3, a helicopter mobilised by 8K Expeditions — which had stepped in after no rescue came from Himalayan Traverse — swept the mountain up to 7,300 metres. Dawa saw it from the icefall and raised both arms. The helicopter did not see him.

Early on June 4, a garbage management team from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee spotted him at Crampon Point, crawling toward base camp. They carried him out on their backs to Gorakshep, from where an Altitude helicopter airlifted him to HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu. SPCC CEO Tshering Sherpa called it plainly: "This is a miraculous survival."

At HAMS, doctors treated him for severe dehydration, frostbite on both hands and a right leg fracture sustained in the crevasse fall. He was discharged on June 11, advised not to walk for three to six weeks.

Read Also: Being discharged from HAMS, Hillary Dawa recounts week-long survival ordeal in Everest death zone

As he recovered, his wife Damu filed a formal complaint revealing that Dawa had been sent to the high camps beyond his contracted role, that the company had ignored her repeated requests to search for him, and had even told her to perform his funeral rites while he was still alive. She has demanded accountability, compensation and the suspension of climbing certificates of expedition members who descended while Dawa remained missing.

The Nepal Mountaineering Association and the Everest Summiteers Association have both called for a government-led independent investigation, describing the case as a serious ethical failure that exposes structural vulnerabilities faced by the support workers who make every Everest season possible — a question that the NPR 86 lakh raised by a global community of strangers has answered with generosity, even as the industry's accountability questions remain unanswered.