The mountains are particularly favorable terrain for extreme situations that bring out the best and the worst in the human condition. The experience of Pakistani Murtaza Ghulam Sadpara this summer could not be more eloquent. On July 15, the two clients he accompanied as a high-altitude porter abandoned him at 8,000 meters above sea level, on Broad Peak, with his hands frozen and physically broken. When he thought about certain death, a group of mountaineers deviated from their goal of reaching the summit and assisted him to base camp. They saved his life, although his hands, with mummified tips and necrosis on six fingers, were destroyed.
Murtaza was luckier than Mohammad Hassan, a Pakistani porter abandoned on K2 in July. A video showed how dozens of mountaineers passed by the young man without stopping to help. It is the dark side of mountaineering. The most human part is embodied by the Austrian Lukas Wörle, who brought Murtaza down to field 3; the people who assisted him there until he was stabilized; or the high mountain guide who ascended to 7,000 meters to descend to base camp. Also those who have now activated a second rescue plan to save, if possible, his hands and ensure a future job for this high-altitude porter (what is known in Nepal as a Sherpa, due to the ethnic group to which they belong in that country). .
Alex Txikon directs this second rescue. The Basque mountaineer summited the historic winter ascent of Nanga Parbat with the late Ali Sapdara, Murtaza's uncle, and knew the Sadparas. This summer he received a call for help from this family, very concerned about the state of the 24-year-old's hands. They knew Txikon's character, committed and determined, always willing to lend a helping hand. And they were not wrong: Murtaza arrived a few days ago in Lemoa (Bizkaia) for treatment.
The young man, father of two children aged 5 and 3, is worried about his injuries and somewhat overcome by the situation, although above all he has words of gratitude: “I am very grateful. I was unlucky, but later I am receiving a lot of help.”
Txikon has involved his family and friends in this rescue plan. During the last few days they have been busy wrapping him up and accompanying him to hospital visits. The Pakistani Akhond Ishaq welcomes him into his house and acts as translator. This chef arrived more than a decade ago in Lemoa, also thanks to Txikon, very grateful for the treatment and service he had been given during one of the expeditions.
“He told me he would help me and I told him that when he arrived in Europe he would forget about me. The opposite happened: she took care of all the paperwork and welcomed us. Alex has been to Pakistan more than 20 times and is always here to help. That's why they called him,” explains Isahq, manager of a restaurant in the center of Bilbao. He knows Murtaza's reality and knows that his future lies in saving his hands in Spain.
“We are from Skardu, and Murtaza, in particular, is from Sadpara village. It is the gateway to the Karakorum, where five of the 14 eight-thousanders are located. It is difficult for him to be a porter again and we want to help him open a store to support his family,” says Isahq. Txikon's friends have organized crowdfunding to pay the costs of the operation and help him get started.
The first intervention, carried out in Madrid, has left encouraging results. Murtaza has been reborn after abandoning Broad Peak and, while recovering in the hospital, he is already thinking about a second life.
