Life - What's it worth?

Isn't it frightening that in a world full of knowledge and understanding, a world where humans have the capacity for choice, the ability to reason and choose the noble path, there are still those who will choose profit over all else.

During a recent expedition to Everest, during one of the driest seasons on record there are people like respected mountaineer Russel Brice chose not to climb due to the dangers and an unwillingness to put people in harms way.

Yet there are those like Arnold Coster and Everest Parivar Expeditions when faced with the tragic injury of a young Sherper named Lhakpa Nuru who was suspected of having a traumatic brain injury after being struck by a falling rock which left his jaw broken and his eye badly injured, have the audacity to say that there is no money for a helicopter evacuation. People who decide that others like Nuru who was putting his life on the line for there expedition are worth less than the $5000.00 it would cost for the rescue.

What a shameful state the world is in if we and people like Russel Brice who try to stand tall are living side by side with people who value money more than people, more than our own humanity.

In the end they did agree to pay and the Sherpa was evac'ed to Kathmandu. Thanks in part to Melissa Arnot the paramedic at Camp II, who was treating Nuru and said to Arnold  Coster, "I told him to look me in the eye and tell me this guy's life isn't worth $5,000,"