It took a couple of years, but a trainee teacher finally conquered the world’s highest mountain — it was her second attempt after she got derailed by an earthquake in 2015.
30-year-old Yusrina Ya’akob reached the summit of Mount Everest at 9.40am on Monday, hereby becoming the first Singaporean to do so this year, Channel NewsAsia reports. Her teammates — fellow Singaporean climbers Jeremy Tong and Dr Arjunan Saravana Pillai — were unable to reach the peak with her as they were both unwell.
The trio’s expedition was an effort supported by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National Institute of Education (NIE), whose goal had been to summit Mount Everest with the first multi-racial team from Singapore. Yusrina’s triumph also holds another historic accomplishment — she’s the first female Malay Singaporean to conquer the mountain.
The expedition had suffered major setbacks from as early as April — 26-year-old Tong fell ill last month when the team had been carrying out their acclimatisation rotations. He was diagnosed with high-altitude cerebral edema, a condition that causes the brain to swell with fluid at high altitudes. Though he did rejoin the team later one to attempt the summit push, he encountered health problems at the balcony, according to expedition company Everquest Expeditions.
As for 47-year-old NIE teaching fellow Dr Saravana, he suffered frostbite and was not able to attempt the summit push.
Two years ago, Yusrina attempted the summit with a different team, but the deadly Nepal earthquake forced them to give up the mission halfway. The 2015 quake was one of the deadliest in the Himalayan nation’s history — it killed nearly 9,000 people and injured nearly 22,000. At least 17 were killed and 61 injured on Everest, but Yusrina and her team survived the avalanche as they were in one of the safest spots at the base camp.
“I would not have been able to get over it (the disappointment) if I did not try again… because the situation that forced us to abort our expedition was not because of a lack of ability but a natural disaster,” said Yusrina to Channel NewsAsia.
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