US Edition
British woman gored by Himalayan yak during Everest hike
Emma Keen, 42, finishes expedition on horseback after animal attack leaves her with three-inch cut
A British woman was gored by a Himalayan yak while on FaceTime to her family as she trekked up Mount Everest.
Emma Keen, 42, was hiking to the Everest base camp with a group to raise funds for a kidney charity when she was attacked by the animal.
The shop manager, from south Wales, was left bleeding heavily and with a three-inch cut to her leg, but managed to finish the expedition on horseback after getting 10 stitches.
Ms Keen was four days into the 130km trip when she sustained the injury in Tengboche village, Nepal.
The hiker was speaking to her brother on FaceTime when she spotted the yak standing 6ft away.
She told Wales Online: “Without warning, I could hear the hoofs pounding towards me and then a sharp stabbing pain in the top of my leg. It threw me up in the air, around a metre, and I landed back down with a thud.
“Clutching my upper leg, I looked and the yak was dragging its hoof in the dusty ground ready to go at me for a second time with his horns down. I screamed and managed to raise my leg and shout.”
Fellow mountaineers rushed to Ms Keen’s aid, and she was then airlifted to hospital where her wound was treated.
Carl Marsh, a firefighter who was also on the trek, said he could see blood gushing from the leg injury and called for first aid.
Ms Keen was given 10 stitches at Lukla airport hospital. Despite her injuries, she vowed to finish the charity expedition and later rejoined her group to complete the final leg on horseback.
Ms Keen, who has raised more than £2,300 for Kidney Wales, said: “It was important that I continue with the trek, as it meant so much to me. Before I headed out for the flight, I could imagine myself at base camp – something I had been training for and looking forward to for over a year.”
She was raising money for the charity because her mother suffered from polycystic kidneys and her brother is on the transplant waiting list.
Ms Keen added: “My charity means a lot to me as my brother Peter is currently on the transplant list, desperately needing a kidney. When the accident happened, I just kept thinking of him and how he would feel if I got to base camp.”