Dad Dies After Achieving Life Dream of Summiting Mount Everest

A 55-year-old Utah dad had finally achieved his life dream of climbing the summit of Mt. Everest when he died on the descent.

After reaching the famous summit, Don Cash suddenly fainted while taking pictures, according to Pioneer Adventure, the company that led his expedition in Nepal.

Sherpa guides immediately gave him CPR and extra oxygen. Though Cash came to and could communicate, he could not stand or walk. So the Sherpa guides quickly dragged him further down the mountain.

Cash fainted again about 80 feet from the summit. Though the guides tried to revive him, he died.

His family said it was Cash's long-awaited goal to reach the top of the highest mountain on Earth.

“The last message he sent to me, he said, ‘I feel so blessed to be on the mountain that I read about for the last 40 years,'” his son, Tanner Cash, told KSL-TV.

His daughter Brandalin Cash told the outlet that her dad taught her that anyone can achieve their dreams and that "nothing is impossible."

Daughter Danielle Cook said he lived by the motto "my success is from the success of others."

According to an update on a LinkedIn page under Cash's name, he had taken a five-month sabbatical from his software career in January to complete the requirements of the Seven Summits Club, which climbs the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. Cash wrote that all he had left at the time was Mt. Vinson Masiff in Antarctica, which he climbed in January, and Everest.

He died accomplishing the incredible feat he dreamed about for so long.

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