The hiker was on a mission to reach Everest basecamp for charity (Picture: WALES NEWS SERVICE)
A British hiker was left severely injured by a yak while hiking Mount Everest – but still returned to the peak to carry out the promise she had made her late mother.
Charity fundraiser Emma Keen was airlifted to hospital after the beast’s horns stabbed her through the leg, leaving her with a three-inch gash.
She had been climbing the mountain to raise money for the charity that had helped her late mother, who had polycystic injuries and desperately needed a kidney transplant.
Emma, a manager from Bridgend, told Wales Online: ‘I was speaking to my brother and his wife and their son Bobi showing them the yak on FaceTime. I was around two metres away from him.
‘Without warning I could hear the hoofs pounding towards me, a sharp stabbing pain in the top of my leg. It threw me up in the air around a metre and I landed back down with a thud.
‘Clutching my upper leg I looked and the yak was dragging its hoof in the dusty ground ready to go at me for a second time with his horns down.
‘I screamed and managed to raise my leg and shout. With that I got up and [fellow team member] Lloyd went for help. I was then airlifted to hospital where the medical staff cleaned my wound and stitched me up.’
When the medical team arrived, Emma was bleeding heavily and drifting in and out of consciousness.
The shop manager was speaking to her brother on FaceTime when she spotted the yak that attacked her(Picture: WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Footage of the attack shows that Emma was able to push the yak off her following the first lunge, giving her time to scramble away before she collapsed.
Yaks rarely attack humans, however they can be highly protective if they think they are in danger, and charge.
Fellow trekker Carl Marsh said: ‘We had just arrived and we were enjoying our first coffee to warm us up when one of the team came running into the tea house screaming for help saying she’s just been attacked by a yak.’
He added: ‘Instincts kicked in and we moved Emma to a safe place away from the danger.
‘Emma was screaming in pain and I could quickly see the yak’s horn had gone through Emma’s leg with a big hole in her hiking leggings and blood running down her leg.’
She was raising funds for Kidney Wales (Credits: WALES NEWS SERVICE)
The helicopter arrived within minutes and Emma was airlifted to Lukla airport.
She was then taken to a medical centre for treatment, where she got ten stitches.
Despite the traumatising ordeal, Emma rejoined the hiking group on their final few days, and reached basecamp on horseback – one of her lifetime goals.
Emma said ‘It was important that I continue with the trek as it meant so much to me. Before I headed out for the flight, I could imagine myself at Basecamp (something I had been training for and looking forward to way over a year).
‘My charity means a lot to me as my brother Peter is currently on the transplant list desperately needing a kidney. When the accident happened I just kept thinking of him and how he would feel if I got to base camp.’
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