Wounded Veteran Benjamin Breckheimer Safe After Avalanche on Mount Everest

A Wisconsin man who was trying to become the first wounded veteran to climb Mount Everest is safe after the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Nepal triggered a deadly avalanche.

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Benjamin Breckheimer called his mother after Saturday’s quake to tell her he was unharmed after the avalanche killed at least 18 people as the height of Mount Everest’s climbing season got underway. “I’m a wreck,” the mother, Mary Lyons, told NBC affiliate WBBH. “I’m glad that I got to talk to him.”

Breckheimer, who was injured by a bomb in Afghanistan in 2009, posted a lengthy letter to Facebook before his expedition.

“If I don’t make it back for whatever reason, don’t cry,” he wrote. “Fight through the tears. Learn, everyday. Don’t lie, cheat or steal. No regrets. Live passionately. Love like crazy. Laugh uncontrollably. It’s never ‘Good bye’, it’s ‘See you later.’”

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

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At least 3,800 people were killed by the earthquake. The toll has risen steadily as searchers pull bodies from the rubble.

IN-DEPTH

• Nepal Earthquake: Stranded Mount Everest Climbers Airlifted to Base Camp
• Nepal Earthquake: Mount Everest Avalanche Wounded Get Rescue Choppers
• Nepal Earthquake: Major Aftershock Hits Kathmandu as Toll Climbs

— Elisha Fieldstadt