Missing Trinity professor Seamus Lawless was blown off the side of Mount Everest after unclipping himself from his safety ropes to go to the toilet, according to a report in the Times Ireland edition, published this morning.
It is reported that after reaching the summit, Lawless’s expedition stopped at an area near the summit known as the balcony to get oxygen. As expedition leader Noel Hanna rested on the balcony, Lawless decided to continue his descent, accompanied by his sherpa.
Speaking to the Times Ireland edition, Hanna said: “[Lawless] was nearly at camp 4 and he had to go to the toilet, so he unclipped himself. At that stage the wind had started to pick up and a gust came and he was blown off the side of the mountain.”
Approximately an hour after Lawless’s fall, Hanna arrived at camp four and launched a search operation. Treacherous climbing conditions, however, meant that search efforts were soon abandoned.
Lawless, who climbed the world’s tallest mountain in aid of children’s charity Barretstown, has been missing since May 16th. Lawless fell from an altitude of 8,300 metres.
A GoFundMe page was set up to raise money for a search mission to find Prof Lawless. Eight days after his fall, however, rescue efforts were called off by Lawless’s family.
In a statement, his family said that the mission was called off after “the extremes of operating at high altitude and the sheer range of the search area ultimately proved too difficult”.
At the recent launch of Trinity’s new business school, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described Lawless as an “inspirational character” and said that the government would “offer any support we can, either financial or organisational”.
In a press statement, Trinity offered condolences to Lawless’s family “on behalf of everyone at Trinity College Dublin and the research centre, ADAPT” and said that “the tragic death of our friend and colleague, Séamus (Shay) Lawless, has come as a huge shock to all of us”.
“We are mourning the loss of one our rising research stars, an inspirational colleague, and a much loved and valued member of our College community”, the statement continued.
A memorial for Lawless was held in Bray yesterday, with Trinity planning on holding its own memorial in the coming weeks.
