According to a report on the website of Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda on March 4, 38-year-old Russian mountain climbing enthusiast Valery Bachurin knows no fear. He tirelessly challenges himself and has earned the respect of many.
Valery works in the railway sector, and during one work shift he fainted. After an examination, doctors discovered he suffered from arrhythmia and tachycardia, among other conditions, requiring surgical treatment. The doctors performed two surgeries in total and warned him that mountaineering posed significant risks. However, just 25 days after being discharged from the hospital, Valery set off toward a high mountain.
Known as the "Bleeding Peak," Khan Tengri Mountain, standing at an altitude of 7,000 meters, has claimed the lives of countless climbers. Yet Valery and his team successfully reached the summit.
"I didn't even bring any medication," Valery said. "I believed in myself, I tried not to think about the difficulties, and my only focus was reaching the summit. The dream of conquering this high mountain kept me climbing. There was another climbing team with us, but when the weather suddenly turned bad at 5,000 meters—snowstorm hit with almost zero visibility—they decided not to risk it and headed back down. We waited in our tent for the storm to ease before continuing and eventually reached the top. Fortunately, we succeeded."
During the climb (10 hours up, 6 hours down, with temperatures consistently below minus 15 degrees), his teammates were constantly worried about Valery’s health—no one knew what might happen.
"My teammates often asked me, 'Valery, how are you? Are you okay?'" Valery said. "I just smiled and replied, 'I'm fine, don’t wait for me.'"
After successfully reaching the summit and returning home, the first thing Valery did was show the photos he took at the 7,000-meter peak to his doctors, who were astonished.
"We found no complications at all," said Valery’s surgeon, Alexander Karavaev. "Just as Valery himself has proven, physical exercise is not dangerous for his body."
Valery has been physically active since childhood, and he plans to climb more high peaks in the future. His dream is to summit Mount Everest, and in the near future, he and his team will set off toward this new goal.