On May 22, 1998, on a slope of more than 8,000 meters above sea level on Mount Everest, a blonde girl in a gray mountaineering suit fell in the snow.
The girl's breath was very weak, her face was pale, and her lips were frozen blue-purple.
Her eyes glazed over the direction of the descent, a tear crossed the corner of her eye, and she muttered, "Honey, don't leave me, save me." ”
In her blurred vision, a tall man carrying a red backpack walked quickly down the hill without turning his head.
The man was her husband, but he left her alone at such a dangerous moment.
What's going on here?
Constantly conquering the mountains
The woman who fell in the snow was francis Asentif, who was born on December 7, 1958, in the Hawaiian Islands of the United States.
Francis's parents were lovers of extreme sports, and under their influence, Francis was very adventurous from an early age.
Before college, Francis tried a variety of thrilling extreme sports such as bungee jumping, skyboarding, and surfing.
Later, Francis was admitted to Arizona State University.
Although the learning tasks gradually increased, Francis still did not give up his hobbies.
While she went to college, she continued to carry out various extreme challenges.
It's just that These challenges Francis has tried many times, and she has lost her enthusiasm for these projects.
In the time that followed, Francis became extremely decadent, and her adventurous spirit did not allow her to stop, but the common extreme sports were no longer challenging.
Seeing that her daughter had been depressed, Francis's father suggested that she join the mountaineering club and become a mountaineer.
This project does not seem to be challenging at all, but it has extremely high requirements for the physical strength, endurance and resilience of climbers.
After Francis entered the club, he climbed many mountains with other climbers and saw a lot of scenery.
Because the scenery of each mountain is different, and the challenges encountered are different, Francis never gets bored.
At this club, Francis not only found a career that she could stick to for life, but also met someone who could accompany her for the rest of her life – Sergey Asentiv.
Sergey is three years older than Francis and is a graduate student at the University of Arizona's Business School.
He also loves extreme sports and is very adventurous, so he is like-minded with Francis and has a lot of common topics.
The two met at a dance party held by the club, and Sergey fell in love with Francis at first sight, warmly invited her to dance, and exchanged contact information.
After that, they also climbed the mountain together many times, and in the process of climbing, they determined each other's hearts and became a couple.
After they were together, they also tried many other extreme sports, but none of them lasted as long as mountaineering.
On December 3, 1981, Francis and Sergey married in the church of Hawaii's Great Wailea Resort and became a family.
At that time, Francis was only 23 years old, had just graduated from college, and Sergey was 26 years old and had only recently received his graduate diploma.
Although the couple formed a new family, a new identity and responsibilities, they still did not give up climbing.
Sergey worked at a stock exchange and would go hiking with his wife whenever he had time.
Together, the couple climbed Mount McKinley, the highest peak in the United States, and Mount Whitney in the Nedahua Mountains, the third highest peak in the United States.
They conquered more and more mountains, leaving footprints on many mountaintops.
The birthday gift is to climb Mount Everest
Later, Francis wanted to try a new challenge – to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Mount Everest is recognized as the highest peak in the world, with an official measurement of 8848.86 meters above sea level.
To climb this peak, not only physical strength and endurance are required, but also extremely high requirements for physical fitness and material conditions.
After all, to climb Everest requires long periods of high-intensity training and the purchase of some very professional equipment, which costs a lot of money.
Sergey and Francis were neither short of money nor courage, and although they knew that the road to the summit was difficult, they still wanted to conquer the mountain.
They began professional training in May 1987 and emailed athletes who had already successfully reached the summit asking about their experience in climbing Everest.
Everything is going very well, and they are expected to travel to Tibet, China, in April of the coming year, and the impact on Mount Everest in May.
However, an accident disrupted the couple's original plans.
In March 1988, when the couple was in a hurry to undergo their last pre-departure medical examination, Francis was told by the doctor that she was more than two months pregnant.
Her unexpected pregnancy forced the nearly year-long plan to reach the summit on hold, and Francis reluctantly stayed at home to raise a baby.
Originally, Sergei could have gone to Tibet, China, according to the original plan, but he did not want to leave his wife, so he stayed.
A few months later, the couple's only child, Tom Ascentiv, was born.
In order to take care of their young children, Sergei and Francis could only continue to climb the high mountains of the country, and Mount Everest became a regret in their hearts.
As he grew older, Francis could clearly feel that the rate of physical loss of his physical strength was accelerating as he climbed the mountain.
She does not obey the old age, and whenever she has time, she goes to the coach for training, and often participates in some mountaineering training camps.
December 7, 1997, was Francis' 39th birthday.
On that day, Sergey gave Francis a special birthday gift, a trip to Mount Everest.
Over the years, Francis's training has always been in his eyes, and he knows that not climbing Mount Everest has always been a major regret in Francis' heart.
In order to make his wife realize her wish, Sergei decided to take a trip to Tibet with his wife.
Francis was very satisfied with the birthday gift and decided to add a little challenge to the gift.
She decided to climb Everest without an oxygen cylinder, becoming the first female climber in the United States to climb Mount Everest without oxygen.
Sergey was shocked by his wife's bold idea, but respected her choice.
He had always been a solid fan of Francis and admired her bravery and steadfastness, so he decided to climb the mountain with her without oxygen.
Anaerobic mountaineering is a very dangerous sport, generally climbing peaks below 6500 meters above sea level, climbers can not carry oxygen cylinders, because there is still enough oxygen in the air.
But in areas above 6500 meters, the air will become thinner and thinner, climbers will not be able to breathe normally, and the rate of physical energy loss will continue to accelerate.
In order to ensure a smooth climb to the summit, many people will carry oxygen cylinders when climbing Everest.
However, mountaineering is originally a process of constantly surpassing oneself, so there have been people trying to climb Mount Everest without oxygen, but there are very few successful people.
In order to be able to successfully complete this challenge, Sergey and Francis underwent very professional physical training in the following days.
Successfully reached the top, but was stuck on the way down the mountain
On April 10, 1998, Sergeau and Francis bid farewell to their elderly parents and young sons and boarded a plane to Tibet.
They trained at the foot of Mount Everest for more than a month before climbing Everest with the climbing team.
Before leaving, the coaches who boarded the team advised the couple to bring oxygen cylinders just in case, but they refused.
"I can't give myself a reason to back off, bringing an oxygen cylinder is equivalent to having a way out, then the chances of success are even smaller."
On May 16, 1998, Sergey and Francis followed a mountaineering team to the mountain.
They are all extremely experienced climbers, so they have not encountered any difficulty in climbing areas below 6500 meters above sea level.
But when the threshold of 6500 meters was exceeded, Sergey and Francis clearly felt that their breathing was getting shorter.
Although the body was still a little uncomfortable, they did not have any panic and calmly adjusted the rhythm of breathing.
After ascending to an altitude of eight thousand meters, Francis felt that the loss of physical strength was getting faster and faster, and his body was getting more and more uncomfortable.
Victory was just around the corner, and there were still a few hundred meters to go before she could reach the summit, and she was reluctant to stop at this time.
She kept pumping herself up, her steps moving forward firmly, and Sergey noticed his wife's strange appearance and kept looking at her with concern.
She gave her husband a smile back and continued to follow the climbing team.
The last few hundred meters are very steep, and many people are stuck here, and Francis is no exception.
Although she wanted to climb the mountain in a hurry, she fell into the snow with all her might.
Sergey noticed that his wife had fallen, and immediately ran over and helped her to the tent set up in advance to rest.
During the break, Sergey gave her two options, to continue to the summit or return the same way.
He also said he would fully support whichever Francis chose.
Francis was reluctant to give up, so he chose to continue his charge on the top of the mountain.
At such a high altitude, although they rest in the tent, their physical strength has not recovered much, and they can only give themselves a little psychological comfort.
When the next day came, only Sergey and Francis were left outside the camp.
Some of the people who walked with them gave up halfway, and some of them returned the same way after reaching the top.
In such an extremely harsh environment, every extra minute is a little more dangerous, so they can't stop for the sake of Sergey and Francis, two strangers.
After three attempts, Francis finally reached the top of the mountain before exhausting the last bit of strength and fulfilled his dream.
They took a picture at the top and returned the same way again.
However, it was easy to go up the mountain and difficult to go down, and Francis had only walked more than two hundred meters, and he fell into the snow due to lack of physical strength.
Sergei wanted to lift his wife up, but his physical strength was running out and he couldn't help her.
Become a Sleeping Beauty on Everest and wait to meet your son
Sergey took out the various medicines in his backpack and fed some to Francis, but Francis's condition did not improve.
At this point, Sergey knew that what his wife needed was not medication, but enough oxygen.
However, none of them carried oxygen bottles up the mountain, and the only way to save his wife was for him to quickly find a nearby camp and ask the camp staff for help.
Sergey told his wife his plan, but Francis was already unconscious and could not hear her husband clearly.
Instinctively, she tugged at Sergey's clothes and pleaded weakly, "Please, don't leave me behind." ”
Sergei broke his wife's hand in pain, kissed her on the forehead, and walked quickly down the hill.
Soon after, a mountaineering couple from Uzbekistan, Ian and Cassie, prepared to storm the summit.
During the climb, they spotted Francis, who still had a glimmer of life.
The experienced mountaineering couple quickly examined Francis's condition and found that her weakness was entirely caused by lack of oxygen.
However, they did not carry extra oxygen cylinders, and if they gave her the oxygen mask they used, then they would become the next Francis.
Seeing that Francis's breath was getting weaker and weaker, they felt very guilty about their actions of not seeing death.
So they gave up the opportunity to climb to the top and stayed by Francis's side to accompany her on her last journey.
After more than an hour, their oxygen was about to run out, and there was no way to stay here, only to say a final goodbye to her.
Before leaving, the couple promised Francis: "If we have the chance, we will come to see you." ”
The next day, a climbing team found Francis's body.
Because she was only more than two hundred meters away from the summit, later climbers regarded Francis as a "signpost" to reach the summit.
Everyone who heads to the top of the mountain will see her peaceful sleeping face, so she has the name of Everest "Sleeping Beauty".
In July 1999, a Polish mountaineering team found Sergei's body in a ravine not far from Francis.
According to the situation at the scene, Sergei accidentally fell to his death while on the road, and before he died, he was still holding two oxygen cylinders tightly in his arms.
In March 2007, Ian and Cassie fulfilled their promise and came to Francis again.
They dragged Francis to a relatively clean place, gave her a simple funeral, and stamped her with an American flag.
Cassie put a letter and a teddy bear next to Francis, both of which francis' son, Tom, had given her.
On March 5, 2022, a blonde American boy came to Everest's training camp.
This tall and handsome guy named Tom Ascentiv, the son of Sergey and Francis, is 34 years old.
Inheriting his parents' spirit of adventure, Sergei tried many extreme challenges while in college.
He had wanted to climb Mount Everest at the age of 30 to visit his parents.
However, this plan was completely destroyed by his grandparents and grandparents.
In the eyes of the four old people, Everest is a monster that will kill people, and they don't want Tom to be buried here.
In order to stop his movements, Tom's grandfather did not hesitate to harm his own health and stayed in the hospital for a whole year.
Tom didn't want the four elderly people to worry about him, so he temporarily canceled his plan.
On November 9, 2021, Tom sent away the last old man before replanning his trip to Mount Everest.
He had no intention of marrying and having children, nor did his family worry about him, so he came to Mount Everest without any worries.
"I can definitely find my parents, I love them so much, I write them a lot of letters."
Tom hoped to be able to move the bodies of his parents together, so that they could snuggle up to each other and rest in this holy snowy mountain.
"If I can't do it this time, I will continue to come next time, and I will not stop the mountaineering without reuniting my parents."
Hopefully, he will be able to enter early to reunite Francis and Sergey.
-Ends-
The picture comes from the Internet and has nothing to do with me
Text | The text does not mistake the little star