Man dies on Mt. Everest; colleagues raising money to bring body back home

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    GLASTONBURY, Connecticut (WFSB) — Family and friends are mourning the death of a Glastonbury man who died while climbing Mt. Everest.

Colleagues of Dr. Puwei Liu, who worked in Connecticut as a scientist, said they’re now raising money to help bring Puwei’s body home.

“We are deeply saddened by the news that our beloved friend, devoted mountaineer Puwei passed away on May 12, 2021 while trying to conquer Mt. Everest,” wrote Yu Chen, one of Puwei’s colleagues. “After successfully climbing Manaslu in 2017, the 4th most dangerous 8000m peak, Puwei set his goal on Mt. Everest at the age of 55. Unfortunately, he became one of the season’s first casualties this year.”

Yu said that Puwei reached a point on the climb where he had to turn around due to snow blindness and exhaustion.

Support team members brought him back to a camp and supplied him with additional oxygen, but Yu said he eventually died.

Yu said that the first part of their fundraising efforts will be used to cover the cost of moving Puwei’s body home. She said that would be more than $50,000.

The second part of the fund will be used to help the family paying off emergency financial needs, including paying off current year’s tuition for three children and other short term expenses. Yu estimated the cost of that to be $50,000.

A GoFundMe page has been created here: uk.gofundme.com/f/help-puwei-lius-family?utm_campaign=p_cp_url&utm_medium=os&utm_source=customer

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