Everest hero Sir Edmund dies
Sir Edmund Hillary (pictured here in 2006) dies aged 88. Picture licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License
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Friday, 11, Jan 2008 06:09
The first man to climb Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, has died at the age of 88 in a hospital in New Zealand after a period of poor health.
The renowned explorer became the first person to scale the world's highest mountain in an expedition in May 1953.
Mr Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of the 8,850m mountain in a British-led team and famously remarked that he had "knocked the b*****d off" on meeting a colleague after the achievement.
Tributes to the New Zealander have come from across the world with many praising his courage and perseverance.
New Zealand's prime minister Helen Clark called the explorer a "heroic figure" who lived a life of "determination, humility, and generosity." She added that Mr Hillary was the most famous New Zealander to have ever lived and the "quintessential Kiwi".
Australia's government also paid tribute to the adventurer saying that his name was "synonymous with adventure, with achievement, with dreaming and then making those dreams come true".
After conquering Mount Everest, Mr Hillary started a charity to help improve the lives of mountain guides living in Nepal. His Himalaya Trust helped in the buildings of schools, hospitals and roads in the country.
His achievement was recognised by the Queen in 1995 when he was made a Knight of the Garter.