Published by: World Tibet Network News Friday, January 16, 1998

January 16 1998 London Times

BY GILLIAN HARRIS, SCOTLAND CORRESPONDENT

HIGH in the Himalayas, 25 Tibetan refugees were stranded by a blizzard, with hope fading fast. Then, through the snow, two figures suddenly appeared and led them through a pass at 19,000ft. They were a couple from Edinburgh on a trekking holiday.

Yesterday Stuart Findlay, 36, unemployed, and Claire McNaughton, 32, who runs a garden centre, spoke about the dramatic end to their adventure holiday, as the surviving refugees began a new life.

The couple were on a two-month holiday in Nepal when they came across the bedraggled refugees close to Mount Everest. The area was blanketed by deep snow after a two-day storm and the refugees, who had been travelling without shelter, food or proper clothing for almost three weeks, were suffering from frostbite and malnutrition in biting winds and sub-zero temperatures. Several were seriously ill.

"The weather had scuppered our trekking plans, so we were headed back towards Kathmandu when we first saw the group," Mr Findlay said. "It helped that I am a mountaineer and knew the terrain, but really we learnt as we went along. "Some were on the point of death and they knew it. We discovered they had escaped from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, three weeks earlier and were heading for Kathmandu, where Tibetan exiles would look after them. Usually it is quite a quick journey, but the deep snow was hampering their progress. They were unprepared for the harsh conditions. They had only the clothes they were standing in and thin shoes."

The refugees were reluctant to bring themselves to the attention of the Nepalese authorities. They were afraid of being sent back to Chinese-run Tibet, where they said they would face torture and possible execution. So the couple agreed to help.

"They were running scared. We couldn't just abandon them. We didn't think about the danger, we just knew we had to help," Mr Findlay said.

They learnt that four children and a monk had died on the journey, their bodies left where they fell. The couple decided to take two of the most seriously injured to a hospital, founded by Sir Edmund Hillary, in a village a day's walk away. They set off with a 23-year-old Buddhist nun and an 11-year-old girl, who had such severe frostbite that Mr Findlay had to carry her.

After they had delivered the two to the hospital, the couple hurried to catch up with the remainder of the group: "We caught up with them limping along the pathway and spent the next five days helping them and encouraging them to keep going.

"By that time, we had gained their confidence and I kept reassuring them that they wouldn't have to go back to Tibet." They reached a small town with a field hospital and a telephone. A doctor treated the refugees while Mr Findlay telephoned the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees in Kathmandu.

"Several needed to be operated on, and unfortunately one man died in hospital. Another had his legs amputated below the knees and several people had their toes amputated. But they were very grateful to Claire and me for getting them through the journey," Mr Findlay said. "The nun even said of Claire and myself: 'You are my mother and father. Without you, I would already be dead'."

Once the refugees had reached safety, Mr Findlay and Ms McNaughton had to catch their flight back to Britain. As they bade them farewell, many of the refugees were in tears. "It was very emotional," said Mr Findlay.

The couple have been back in Scotland for two weeks, and are still amazed when they look back. "Basically we just stumbled through it," Mr Findlay said. "It is an experience we will never forget."