South African race car driver, Gugu Zulu, has died while attempting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on Sunday, eNCA reported.
Gugu and his wife, Letshego Zulu were two of 46 South Africans who were attempting to summit the mountain, hoping to reach the highest peak in Africa on Mandela Day, 18 July.
The annual Trek4Mandela Kilimanjaro expedition aims to raise enough funds to ensure that 350 000 girl children will not miss a day of school due to menstrual challenges.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that one of the climbers on the Trek4Mandela, Gugu Zulu lost his life while summiting Kilimanjaro early this morning before summiting,” said NMF Director of Communications Neeran Naidoo.
“Details are sketchy. What we do know is that Gugu experienced problems breathing. The medical team supporting the trek put him on a drip and they descended the mountain with him. We are informed that the medical teams tried everything possible to save his life.”
According to eNCA he complained of breathing problems before being taken to hospital. The medical team tried everything possible to save his life.
Zulu posted on his Instagram two days ago that he was having flu-like symptoms and that he was struggling with the mountain.
Altitude sickness occurs when you cannot get enough oxygen from the air at high altitudes. This causes symptoms such as a headache, loss of appetite, and trouble sleeping. It happens most often when people who are not used to high altitudes go quickly from lower altitudes to 8000 ft (2438 m) or higher.