This is Dawa Nurbu Sherpa, a 26-year-old mountain guide from Sankhuwasabha, Nepal. He is also a husband, a father of two young children and the main breadwinner of his family. Earlier this spring, Dawa was guiding a Swiss climber on Annapurna I (8,091 m) when his life changed forever. According to Dawa, while they were approaching the summit on April 19, 2026, his client ran out of bottled oxygen. Dawa gave him his own supply, believing they could descend together to another cylinder he had cached above Camp IV. They reached the summit, but without oxygen Dawa became increasingly slow and exhausted. His client descended faster with the oxygen Dawa had given him, while Dawa gradually fell behind and was eventually left alone high on Annapurna. Weak, exhausted and without supplementary oxygen, Dawa says he lost the route above Camp IV and found himself in an area without fixed ropes. Unable to continue safely, he was forced to spend the night exposed high on the mountain. By then, his hands were beginning to go numb. The following day, he somehow found the route again and began making his way slowly down, already suffering severe frostbite. A rescue operation was launched by 8K Expeditions, and experienced mountain guide Ashok Lama climbed back high on Annapurna to help locate and rescue him. Dawa was eventually brought down and evacuated from Camp III before being admitted to hospital. He had survived one of the world's most dangerous mountains, but the price of that survival would follow him home. Doctors later had to amputate seven of his fingers. For Dawa, those hands were his livelihood. They held ropes, carried equipment and helped guide climbers safely through the Himalayas. They were the hands through which a 26-year-old father earned enough to feed his family and raise his two small children. Now, after surviving Annapurna, he faces perhaps the most difficult chapter of his life: trying to find a new way to support them. Dawa says the future sometimes feels dark. He does not know whether he will ever be able to return to the profession that supported his family, while his medical needs, rehabilitation and everyday responsibilities continue. His children are still young, and the family that depended on his work before Annapurna still depends on him today. A mountain guide gave up his own oxygen when the person he was responsible for needed it. He survived, but he came home having lost seven fingers. Now he needs our help. Everest Today is sharing Dawa's story in the hope that the mountaineering community and people around the world can stand beside him as he rebuilds his life. Donations will help support his treatment and rehabilitation, assistive and prosthetic needs, his children's education, everyday family expenses and, most importantly, help him find a sustainable way to earn a living again. If you can contribute, please do. If you cannot, sharing his story can also make a difference. Dawa lost seven fingers on Annapurna. We should not let his two children lose their future with them. To Support Dawa Nurbu Sherpa: gofund.me/132e7bbb6.