KATHMANDU, Nepal — An Australian woman who attempted to climb Mount Everest in an effort to prove that "vegans can do anything" died Saturday after developing altitude sickness during her ascent
Maria Strydom, 34, and her husband, Robert Gropel, climbed to the final camp from the summit of the mountain -- less than a quarter-mile from the highest point of the mountain -- when they both began suffering from high-altitude pulmonary edema, Time reported.
Gropel survived and was taken to a Nepal hospital for treatment.
The condition -- triggered by lack of oxygen -- caused fluid to build up in Strydom's brain, The Washington Post reported.
"Physically he's OK, we think," Gropel's father, Heinz Gropel, told The Australian. "Mentally he is a mess. He's just lost his wife. These guys were not amateurs. They were experienced climbers."
Strydom, a finance lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne, planned to take a monthlong break from her teaching job to scale Everest.
Strydom was one of four people to die climbing Everest over the course of four days. Eric Arnold, 35, is one of the deceased. He was part of Gropel's climbing party.