Mont Blanc is the highest summit in Europe
(Picture: EPA)A British hiker left hospitalised with extreme hypothermia after attempting to scale Mont Blanc has denied reports he was dressed only in a tracksuit for the journey.
Feda Hussein, 26, an aeronautical engineering graduate from Portsmouth, had resigned himself to death after being trapped for twelve hours before his rescue by helicopter from the Italian side of the mountain on Sunday.
Rescuers said his body temperature was a staggering 25 degrees, 10 degrees below the hypothermia threshold, when he was found in a hole in the snow on the Bionnassay glacier.
Italian media had cited officials claiming Mr Hussein was wearing just mountain boots and a tracksuit, and lacking essential gear such as crampons, ropes or an ice pick.
However, he told the Telegraph: “I was fully prepared. I had wet weather gear, an ice axe, crampons and ropes. My backpack weighed 25kg.”
“He was in an evident state of hypothermia, exhausted,” said Paolo Comune, head of Alpine Rescue for the Aosta Valley.
“The mystery is how he got there, because there are holes and crevasses before you reach that zone. No one aware of the risks you face in that kind of territory would go up there at this time.”
Mr Hussein told the paper that he felt “blessed to be alive” after falling into a deep crevasse and badly injuring his leg, leaving him unable to make his way to safety.
“I thought, that’s it, I’m dead. It took all my strength to get out of it. My leg was twisted really badly and I couldn’t walk anymore,” he said.
The 26-year-old called the emergency alpine rescue number and eventually passed out on the mountainside after telling rescuers he did not think he would make it.
The next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital, having been rescued by a helicopter, where he spent the next two days in intensive care.
Rescuers attributed the successful attempt to save his life to the skill of the helicopter pilot in battling heavy winds and Mr Hussein’s physical constitution.
Authorities in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, on the French side of Mont Blanc, earlier this year ordered would-be mountaineers to pay a €15,000 deposit before attempting the climb, in part to cover the cost of any mountain rescue if needed.
