Sherpa doctor of Namche Bazaar: Everester Abhyu Ghimire’s medical institute is a lifeline in Nepal’s remote hotspot

Abhyu Ghimire is a doctor with dogged determination who took to the Himalayas like a Sherpa because, in his own words, work satisfaction is what really matters. Leaving the comfortable confines of Kathmandu, he set up the Mountain Medical Institute at Namche Bazaar in the Khumbu region of northeastern Nepal — gateway to the world’s highest peak, Mt Everest.

Built eight years back, the institute is situated at a height of 3440 metres. Nearly 950 metres above, in Dingboche, is a branch of the institute. One has to trek for hours to get there from the nearest airport at Lukla. Both are run by 34-year-old Abhyu, along with support staff.

Abhyu did his MBBS from Manipal in Karnataka, but chose to work here because he “loathes to be in a comfort zone”. The degree of discomfort in Khumbu is not just limited to the terrain. The mercury can dip way below freezing point and the oxygen level is low. His working hours are flexible, to the extent that at times he treats patients in the middle of the night.

His father Ganesh Ghimire, who resides in Lalitpur, a district adjoining Kathmandu, recalls how once Abhyu ignored his own wellbeing to bring a 22-year-old carbon monoxide poisoning victim from the latter’s house to the institute late at night. “Abhyu broke a rib while carrying him on a stretcher, but revived the youngster before treating himself.”

“Abhyu was always inquisitive as a child and used to love doing things on his own. Perhaps, it is this zeal to explore the world that has taken him to the lap of the Himalayas. Or perhaps, it is his love for the mountains. When he would come home for holidays while doing his MBBS, he would spend most of the time trekking. Even his paintings (another of his hobbies) feature snow-capped peaks,” says his mother Pramilla Ghimire, who works for the World Food Programme in Yemen.

Abhyu may have inherited the love for challenging situations. His father used to work in Afghanistan and Iraq for UNICEF when the conflict in both the countries was at its peak. These days, his mother is stationed in conflict-torn Sana’a.

Not only do the local Sherpas consider him a messiah (he has treated more than 10,000 patients and saved many lives during his stay there), he himself has taken to what Sherpas love the most — mountaineering.

Three years ago, he scaled Ama Dablam, which mountaineers consider even tougher to conquer than Mt Everest. Last year, he scaled Everest in his third attempt after he was forced to abandon his bid in 2022 because of bad weather and had to return from the Base Camp in 2021 because of Covid.

“Many doctors may have scaled Mt Everest before me, but I did it as an expedition medic and a climbing Sherpa,” he says, with a hint of pride in his voice. When pressed to elaborate, he adds, “There are two ways to climb Everest. Either you pay for it or you get paid as climbing Sherpas are.”

Money, however, is the least of his concerns. Perhaps, that is why he chose to be at Camp II at 6500 metres, where he treated around 40 patients for about nine days earlier this year during the spring mountaineering season. Or chose to strum guitar for a music video on Mt Lobuche East (6119m) some years back.