Mount Everest Traffic Jam: Utah Man Dies From 'High Altitude Sickness'

A man from Utah died while descending the summit of Mount Everest amid a "traffic jam" of climbers Wednesday.

Shortly after reaching the summit, 55-year-old Donald Lynn Cash, a passionate climber who joined "Seven Summits Club” after quitting his job, “suddenly fainted due to high altitude sickness” while taking photographs, Pioneer Adventure, a guide company, said in a statement Thursday.

The supporting Sherpa guides revived him by “immediate massage, CPR and raising his oxygen pressure." Cash then communicated with the guides for a while but was still unable to stand and walk.

“In that situation, our Sherpa Guides tried to rescue and drag him down towards Camp 4 as quick as they could. While dragging him down close to Hillary Step (approximately 5.44 miles) he again fainted and his accompanying Sherpa Guides tried to wake him up but he breathed his last,” the statement said, adding, “Our Team did their best to save his life. Despite their best efforts in providing the best guidance, sufficient oxygen supplies and medical support they could not save his life. They waited there for more than two hours keeping their own life at risk. They hoped that he might survive and they could bring him down. But he was already dead.”

Speaking to NBC-affiliated television station KSL TV, Cash’s children remembered him as a “larger than life” man who loved challenges.

“The last message he sent to me, he said ‘I feel so blessed to be on the mountain that I read about for the last 40 years’,” his son Tanner said.

His daughter Brandalin said, “He taught us that nothing was impossible. You can do literally anything. If you can dream it, you can do it.”

“One of the last messages my mom got was thank you for supporting me in my dreams. He wanted to do this. He wanted to be on that mountain. He wanted to show that he could accomplish dreams and that others can too,” she added.

Taking advantage of the clear weather, over 200 climbers tried to reach the summit Wednesday, causing a “traffic jam” and delays. Some of them also waited for almost three hours to descend by the Hillary Step, risking frostbite and altitude sickness.

Another climber, Anjali Kulkarni from India, also died while descending from the peak Wednesday.

"She had to wait for a long time to reach the summit and descend. She couldn't move down on her own and died as Sherpa guides brought her down,” her expedition organizer told local daily Mumbai Mirror.