Ken Kamler: Medical miracle on Everest

[JedaqiaAngel]

I don't understand some of the hate. Everybody have their own personal purpose. If you don't, then you probably don't understand why climbers do what they did.

[zchamu]

He was not the only doctor on the mountain. Outright falsehood.

[mrbenderson005]

I would think it terribly cruel to put your wife through the grief, you know... assuming she loves you. Otherwise, go for it!

[roidroid]

@GrudgyDiablo Not taxes. Climbing everest is expensive - the climbers pay plenty for climbing equipment, survival gear, keeping base camps running etc. AFAIK that's all paid for by the climbing expeditions (i mean who else pays for it?), not taxes.

The climbers can pay for this as well.

It could even be run as an privatized ultra-successful self-sustaining private charity. Everest climbers are rich people - save lives every season and it would pay for itself with grateful donations.

[laistar]

For no good reason? Everyone is different with different passions... most of us view climbing up Mt Everest as pointless but to them its their lives and its unfortunate for them that their passion is extremely dangerous. It's just something they had to do, you might not agree with it but belittling the dead is just low.. some soldiers also leave their unborn child/children because they may feel such a strong compulsion to do what they feel is necessary.

[MarkCooperRunsEurope]

what a great speaker

[hooibe1]

@rafaravioli and all the thumbs uppers. It's a great thing that we as humans are not all alike. If we all thought like this way, there would be no US, the world would still be flat and humans wouldn't get much further than the cave door.

[jshrake]

Weak 3rd person account with simulated brain scan nonsense. Google "Into Thin air" and read it... Outside Magazine.....that article you will never forget. I havent.

[myfriends8008]

How do you pee on Everest?

[roidroid]

@myfriends8008 you pee on Everest

[roidroid]

I don't understand why they don't have better equipment.

After all these decades - why havn't they by now air-lifted a complete sealed medical room up there?

Tents are stupid.

We have permanent sealed settlements in Antarctica.

We even have semi-permanent settlement in orbit, and we have spacesuits.

Why can't we send people up Everest safely by now? Surely the technology exists.

[foxdragon84]

maybe i'll cross climbing mount Everest of my things to do list.

[teleomorph]

How come the guy he refers to as Beck in the slides with the frozen hand and necrotic face looks Asian while the guy he refers to as Beck in the last group shot is a Caucasian with full beard?

[psychotrn]

@teleomorph The guy at 18:45 seems to have severe swellings around the eye area. He might be caucasian. There is also a mustache, but it's hard to tell if he actually has got a full beard with all the dark areas in his face. I tend to believe that the doctor shows the right picture.

[jittendroloin]

@teleomorph ...face is swollen from cold

[endeavourthelimits]

"Great" attitude of the guys staying in the armchairs behind the speaker.

[CoreyJKelly]

Excellent talk.. but I really wish it didn't sound like he was chewing on his tongue the whole time...

[armelix73]

So true :) hahaha Pretty annoying, isn't it? :)

[tetleydidley]

hahaha i noticed that too and it really really annoyed me i almost threw a hammer on the screen!!

[threebobs]

That sound is terrrrrrrible!

[flintbrenick]

17:17 How do you spell the name for that part of the brain? Thanks!

[Scottium]

Anterior Cingulate Gyrus.

[Divel11]

anterior cingulate gitus

[biscoito1r]

Rest in peace

[Fullcontact83]

Better to live 1 day as a lion then 1000 days as a sheep ..... RIP.

[VivekRajcoomar]

@Fullcontact83 better to live and watch the birth of ur 1st son, than die playing mountaineer.

[Fullcontact83]

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore no matter what the consequence.

[colmcq]

@Fullcontact83

damn straight. I'm climbing everest in 2013. hell yeah!

[oxygenownz]

pretty hard to have sympathy for people dying when they're doing something that dangerous intentionally.

[whiskeyguy707]

Easier to have sympathy for people who never take a single risk in their lives and yes, still die... yet cannot say they did something as amazing as this?

[browntown72]

get over yourself, a life is a life and should be treated as such. It makes no difference wheather these people died living ordinary lives, or died dangerously climcing everest. They do not ask for your sympathy, but please respect the dead.

[tubehax]

why respect the dead, do they have a problem with any actions taken against them ?

[NegativeNick]

@tubehax yeah really, we should respect the living, not the dead

[browntown72]

@tubehax im not saying to respect the dead for the sake of the dead, i am saying to respect the dead out of common respect for human life, and for those who might have lost a family member or a loved one to mount everest. It is quite disgusting of you to show know tact or apathy for those who have lost a loved one. Even if you do not sympathize with them, keep your useless comments to yourself so others do not have to feel the pain of you belittling death.

[raserucort]

hah, if these people got so motivated by their families to survive hypothermia, why the hell would they traverse mt. everest in the first place?

[skyemail]

oh snap!

[Watership1000]

If you find this story compelling I recommend that you read "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. The book is a detailed account of what happened on this particular expedition.

[sparrow111260]

oh ... another spirit of "human nature" video.

[jamblinuk]

I still do not understand what they are trying to find on the top of that mountain..

It really is an ego thing - because I mean, they get up there and then they have to come down straight after otherwise they die... just so that in the end they can say "I was in the top of the world". I mean, to risk your life just to say those words.. that is ego over life..

[RhinoAts51]

@jamblinuk You're a dumbass, its not ego, its exploration. Do you think it is equally as ridiculous to send man into space? Or to the depths of the ocean? Its called testing human limits, and learning from it, to do it better next time.

If you can not understand the need for exploration, then you're a self centered idiot, your own ego prevents you from the understanding.

[jamblinuk]

@RhinoAts51

lol

Exploration? They stair there 10 seconds and then they start to come down.

When they send man into space, they spend MILLIONS in making sure that they come back alive.

When they go to the depth of the oceans they are well secure as well with technology that you can trust.

Not testing human limits - testing their own limits, risking their life.

To get to the top of everest is not exploration - dumbass

[RhinoAts51]

@jamblinuk Your twisted logic only goes to show your lack of what the word "exploration" even means. I won't continue this further, because id have to travel back in your past and locate the one key moment when you became a dumbass to try and explain anything better, which is more time than id be willing to spend.

[jamblinuk]

@RhinoAts51 oh, so you are not willing to "teach" and share what you "know" but you are willing to respond to me to call me again "dumbass" - that really shows a lot about you... It seems like how does not know what exploration means is you - let me educate you: ex·plo·ra·tion noun 1. an act or instance of exploring or investigating; examination. 2. the investigation of unknown regions. that was really hard... now you are not a dumbass anymore... or are you?

[elthammob]

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; ... who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat. -- Theodore Roosevelt

[jamblinuk]

@elthammob

which is self interest / EGO -- more than 1 billion people in this world go to sleep ungry every night, and these are going up the, staying there for 10 seconds, and then come down -- and you call this a "high achievement" / "victory" -- lol... silly

[tyrannicoystercult]

@RhinoAts51

taking a job or conquest where you die on your wife while she's pregnant, is this stupid? is it worth it to you OR her OR your child?

how about the guy who is getting paid to tell this 'tragic' story and all the people who think they're learning something by hearing this sad story? sure its sad, but is it ego to tell it? what learning is going on here? Th section about the 'will' area of the brain and blood-flow in it is not new, it was known before going up there. kudos, but, ego?

[OriginalMindTrick]

@RhinoAts51

This is not exploration.. This is people not capable of getting kicks out in the real world like the rest of us, so they have to try these dumbass things. Many of the people can be labeled with a slight bipolar disorder. If someone want to do some exploration on this very planet they should be going down to the abysmal sea. The moon is more explored then the deep sea.

[jahrleriksen]

"Into Thin Air" is a good recount of this Everest story. By Jon Krakauer.

[peruface]

drink some water MAN!~

[infpdarling]

Yes, God saved one, the rest died. To me the story is about how God chooses who lives and dies, not a miracle, it happens every day. Yet it is ascribed to the power of the human mind. One man had an exceptional mind? I don't buy miracle, and I don't buy power of the human mind to save itself, just the same thing that happens when a million people cross the street every day and one gets hit by a speeding car.

[PlayT0E]

5 climbers died but god saved one guy with a miracle.

gotta luv how everyone credits "god" for saving one person, but never blame god for not doing anything to help the others.

[planetdarwin]

I found a cave inside the mountain that goes up through the middle and comes out the top. The cave is heated with thermal springs so you can stop and rest in a bubbling hot tub if you're tired. Also, there are cocoa beans growing in the cave that taste like Hershey bars. You have to bring your own flashlight though. Maybe that's why people go the harder way... no flashlight?

[Limited317]

make that man a green lantern!

[IronicallyVague]

Shouldn't we tell him about the escalator on the back side of the mountain?

[planetdarwin]

I took a hot air balloon to the summit and brought 800 of those hand warmer thingies. No problem.

[ShalloeThought]

verry silly .... im more a tropical island holiday kind of guy

[Shaunt1]

Amazing things happen everyday!

[rafaravioli]

Meh. It's hard to find sympathy for anyone who dies doing something so exceedingly dangerous for no good reason. And shame on the guy who was about to have a kid.

[grofuss]

@rafaravioli I wholeheartedly agree. *shakes head*

[nyrbsamoht]

@rafaravioli yer.. its a very selfish pursuit.. but omg its worth it, but those who say its worth it have never died.. so they cant really comment on what its "worth"

[greggostr]

@rafaravioli Because its much better to die of something sensible. Like a fast-food induced hear attack, or an car crash because some drunk dude didnt have the sense to take a cab.

[joncanada666]

@rafaravioli I hear you...When he was talking about that rob guy, who had his last talk with his wife... That guy was a fucking douche bag to take this risk when she is about to have there first kid!

[altruisticly]

@rafaravioli Yeh ! No sympathy for anyone who dies on a space mission as well !! Its called human endevour.And " the guy" was a person called Rob Hall who you might want to find out about before showering your judgement on him.

"Into thin Air" covers most of it and was one away from the pulitzer.

[Arrktopyis]

@rafaravioli

it's not for no reason. some people like to break the limits of possibility, to do the impossible. I am pretty sure that this way of thinking is not even their fault. humans are design to be that way. this is how we evolved. i am not saying that trying to climb the Everest is a good evolutionary choice, but that breaking limits and surpassing ourselves is. those people died doing what they liked and there is no point in saying they're stupid now. lets just respect the dead .

[senetiinsanity]

@rafaravioli

That guy was called Rob Hall, he was one of the best mountaineers in the world and he would have survived had he left one of his clients behind to die. Plus, he did this for a living, guiding people up Everest was his source of income. Furthermore they set out in perfect weather conditions and there was literally no reason for them to believe that this storm would come up.

Please do some research first next time you speak badly about dead people.

RIP all great mountaineers.

[planetdarwin]

Is it just me or does it seem like most of the people climbing Everest are like 45 years old? Do you think a younger person would find it easier? It makes me wonder when they say people are out of breath... is it because they're out of shape, or because it's really that tough up there?

[dibbler5]

I'm in my early 20's and have been to Base Camp. A lot of climbers are in their 30s and early 40s. This seems to be due to endurance thresholds being higher at those ages.

And yes, it really is that tough up there. At Base Camp, there's half the oxygen there is at sea level. It still sounds like a lot, but it means your diaphragm has to expand all the way down to your stomach to draw in air. I only went to Base Camp, and it's the hardest thing I've ever done, by a huge margin.

[m015094]

That's because it costs a shit ton of money to climb Everest - something most young people don't have. Plus the young people aren't going through their mid-life crisis. Jesus, buy a sports car already!!

[planetdarwin]

re: "why would you fucking go there you WILL die"

Not everyone is obsessed with immortality like you are.

[CAlex6977]

Nifty speech. If he gives it again, I suggest he brings out that dude Beck. He would have killed it, the place would have exploded in appplause.

[RDJim]

That year's climbing series has spawned more books, movies and inspirational talks than any other climbing season on any other mountain. It wasn't the worse season on Everest, but with the presence of the IMAX team and the other notable teams, we have "Into Thin Air" and other great tales of survival and doom. If you liked this, check out the TV series Everest... two 10 part seasons following one guide and his paying clients. Great stuff.

[MCG3141]

Mark Roth gave a talk on suspended animation and low oxygen environments. I am thinking that these two talks are related.

[OverHedge99]

I'm thinking "wow" and "cleft"

[markthnark]

First assumption is that a man who is likely to have been oxygen deprived and may have lost consciousness for a long period, has correctly recalled what happened to him. Second assumption is the whole "this is what his brain scan might have looked like"......please. So the whole message of the power of the mind saving this mans life, is based on two unlikely premises.

[Sideways0J]

It don't like it when people ascribe special "miracle" attributions to one person's story, and seemingly ignore the failure of miracles for the less fortunate casualties. Did the other people not care about their families enough? Did they not pray hard enough, or correctly?

I would prefer a more rigourous approach to hypothesizing about what variables might have lead to the increased access to "will power" *if* we are to assume that is what saved him. Not *imaginary* brain scans.

[princeofexcess]

@Sideways0J you know how it is its a miracle when god saves one child in the same earthquake he killed twenty thousand

[adorianvlad]

Could someone pls explain this?

How come, on top of Everest where the air is rarefied, winds are so strong? I mean, wind is based on air, right?

Tnx

[91962]

It's the oxygen levels in the air.

[lnanji]

If you want to read this story in its entirety, the book is called 'Into Thin Air'. Its brilliant.

[Leobons]

Edible for a TEDMED

[kinsmed]

TED speakers are allocated 18 minutes.

Doesn't it seem that they spend 17 airing out their credentials, then think they can cram their point into the last one?

[P1ranh4]

@kinsmed A lot of them do, I think. Many speakers need a very long portion of their time until they finally get to their point. So usually the ends of those talks are very exciting, but the beginnings relatively boring.

I'd wish they could spread parts of their points into earlier minutes of their talks to build up the excitement for the final part.

Overall the talks are very interesting, but not very well presented...

[Pianofy]

You climb the mount everest while your wife is seven months pregnant?

I don't even know if there's a word for that...

Just plain awefull.

[evanlockhart]

Awful is how you spell it correctly. And plenty of people put their lives in danger every day, regardless of their loved ones. They were doing great things and living their dreams.

[kewpiesbadhairday]

lemmings!

[BuBBaGump014]

DON'T READ THIS COMMENT:

You will now notice his annoying dry-mouth smacking noises.

[ipoloton]

I read the full story in "Into Thin Air'. It's a very sad real story. But, Beck was the guy there. I wish I could meet him one day

[boqallaf]

how do you pee on Everest?

[1schwererziehbar1]

what a bunch of faggots!

i would have just climbed on and not died.

[graphattic]

2 morals coem from this story.

a) Never give up on life or yourself.

b) Never climb on Everest

[writerdeity8]

I read, last year, a book called "Life and Death on Mount Everest," and it was fascinating. It makes a little clearer the motivation for people to do this in the first place, and I recommend it. It's written by a woman named Sherry B. Ortner.

[GetMeThere1]

Interesting talk. But bottom line the lesson was: Anyone who goes there is just stupid....

If you feel compelled to, there are ways to risk your life or test yourself to the limit without being just a stupid tourist doing something pointless.

[fauxman]

:( error spam

[TheDepreso]

Wow! Great speech! Very inspiring!

[yousefamar]

Amazing. But for some reason I want to climb Everest more than ever now.

[FIREBUNEE]

so true

[xjustamem0ryx]

man follows his ego atop a mountain of pride and when he falls he manufactures a martyrdom out of it.

poor pitiful man. twice.

but the part about the brain and willpower and energy is pretty interesting.

[HiAdrian]

Especially the one with a pregnant wife at home, well done...

[eArtrash]

@xjustamem0ryx I doubt you will ever do anything as courageous as this. These men went through a whore of an ordeal, whilst following their passions.And that makes them "poor, pitiful men"? More like legends!

[xjustamem0ryx]

point missed is point missed.

[rosehurry]

he deserved it why would you fucking go there you WILL die.. people are stupid

[liquidminds]

When Christopher Columbus first went to his royal family to tell them about his idea to find a way to india sailing west, he was told the same.

until he found someone who found it worth trying.

If humans weren't that way, we would still sit around a waterhole in africa collecting fruits and runing from everything thats a danger to us...

[rosehurry]

@liquidminds There is a difference When

i say i want to put my head inside a lion's mouth and

when i say i want to discover what inside

the lion's mouth i hope you get it..

[yared94]

I like how he made that joke even though he's experienced death first hand.

[iGregory67]

Wow.

Just wow...

[ggp1983]

great talk, but he lost me at the hypothetical brainscans.

[eyallev]

@ggp1983

he could just as well had showen "this is his heart rate, had we had measured it, maybe, I think so, could be.

How about "this guy left his pack, went back down the montine, than heard his friends were in trouble, so he climbed up, went into the med' tent, said a "funny" joke, and made up the part about *laying dead in the snow*". couldn't that be what have happened?

[grofuss]

I'd like to ask Ken "why?"  But like any extreme activity humans do, 'why' isn't really important.

[dooovde]

@grofuss ...don't ask why, you know why, for we must find the next whiskey bar, for if we don't find the next whiskey bar, I tell u we must die, I tell u we must die, I tell u, I tell u, I tell u we must die!

[EsotericThrone]

It's only twenty minutes. If anything, I wish the TED presenters had more time than they typically do.

[guyincognito84]

@MrMoka369 I'm very proud of you!

[PhaseFavor]

lol.

[kkrizzz]

You're not!

[kkrizzz]

Cool talk!

Maybe a bit long of a video though