Swede First Coma Victim to Climb Mt. Everest

Swedish coma victim Örjan Holmger became the first person in a persistent vegetative state to successfully climb Mt. Everest.

Holmger arrived on the summit on May 29th with the assistance of Sherpas Lilonge Sherpa and Pemba "Pull" Sherpa. The climb is the sixth peak of the famed "Seven Summits" that Holmger has successfully completed since a debilitating cycling accident in 2003. The Seven Summits challenge consists of the tallest peaks on each continent. To date approximately 270 climbers have completed all seven.

It was originally hoped that Holmger's Everest climb would be the final of the seven, but that hope was dashed when the team was forbidden access to Vinson Massif in Antarctica due to safety concerns. The team hopes that their success on the world's highest mountain peak will spur Adventure Network International to allow the Vinson Massif climb to take place in December 2010.