Alone and blind at 29,000 feet!
Former Navy rescue swimmer Brian Dickinson was roughly 1,000 feet from the summit of Mount Everest—also known as the death zone—when his Sherpa, Pasang, became ill and had to turn back, leaving Brian with a difficult decision: Should he continue to push for the summit or head back down the mountain?
After carefully weighing the options, and confident that Pasang could make it back to camp safely, Brian decided to continue toward the summit—alone. Four hours later, Brian solo summited the highest peak in the world. But the celebration was short lived. After taking a few pictures, Brian radioed his team to let them know he had summited safely, checked his gear, and began his descent.
Suddenly, without warning, his vision became blurry, his eyes started to burn, and within seconds, he was rendered almost completely blind.
All alone at 29,035 feet, low on oxygen, and unable to see, Brian was forced to inch his way back down the mountain, relying only on his Navy survival training, his gut instinct, and faith.
An adrenaline-laced roller coaster of a read, Blind Descent is an incredible testimony to the power of the human spirit and serves as proof that no matter how dire our circumstances, there is no challenge too big for God.
