Mount Everest climber James Lee warded due to severe chest pain

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian mountaineer James Lee Chong Meng, who is on a mission to reach the summit of Mount Everest, was airlifted by helicopter on an emergency evacuation to a Kathmandu hospital in Nepal Saturday due to severe chest pain.

He was scheduled to ascend to Camp 3 and to the summit from Camp 4 on Saturday.

"He was admitted and medically treated. He is now recovering and may be discharged soon," according to a statement from the organisers of the expedition.

It said that Lee, 69, Malaysia's oldest mountaineer, experienced chest pain and breathing difficulty at Camp 2 on Thursday.

"He was in a state of breathlessness and had to use oxygen at night when sleeping," it said.

Lee's chest pain worsened the following day and he was unable to lie down to sleep due to stomach pain.

During his first attempt to scale Mount Everest in May last year, Lee had to abort the climb in the final stage at Camp 3 at a height of 7,200m, due to bad weather. Mount Everest is the world's tallest, at 8,848m high.

The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) is a media partner of the mission, officially called the Lion Mount Everest Expedition (MEE) 2017, organised by the Lions Club Port Dickson Pantai.

Lee is carrying MEE's two important messages, namely to inspire people of all ages to focus on good health and be active in society, and to draw attention on the need to preserve the environment. - Bernama