Jason Kennison, 40, a South Australian climber who survived a car crash in 2006 and was told he might never walk again has died of medical complications when descending after summiting Mt Everest on the last weekend. His body is yet to be recovered. It was the tenth death on the world’s highest peak this season. Climbers refer to altitudes above 8000m as “the death zone” because, at these heights, oxygen levels are insufficient. Before the expedition Kennison said he was still overcoming his fear of heights and had been using different training techniques to combat vertigo. He described the adventure as “an ambitious feat that I would never have dreamed of, or thought was possible after once being told that I would not be able to walk”.
“Jason was one to live a full life,” his sister Michelle Graham told media after climber’s death. Kennison worked at mine sites in both South Australia and Queensland, before working overseas as a coach and mentor in developing countries such as Kyrgyzstan. Kennison had been living in Perth.
