The Moment of Relief 

(2013)

In August 2012 I diagnozed a young alpinist high on Ushba (4710m, Caucasus) with acute pulmonary edema, a form of acute altitude sickness. After a night of first aid, phone calls and long waiting, finally a Georgian rescue helicopter arrived in the early morning. Ushba almost would have claimed another life (like so many times before), but the young climber survived, miraculously without permanent damage. He recovered fully and has become a close friend.
Unfortunelately I lost the camera I took this photo with during the hectic moments of the rescue. One year later, in August 2013, an Armenian climber found the camera and brought the SD card down. I picked the card up two weeks ago in Tbilisi and found this image.
(Published as Leica Fotografie International Photo Story)