City surgeon's part in Everest drama.

A WOMAN found suffering from oxygen deprivation near the summit of Everest was given life-saving assistance by a team of British doctors, including Coventry surgeon Chris Imray, it emerged today.

The rescue of Nepalese climber Usha Bista, 22, hit the headlines last week when she escaped with little more than frostbite after being found unconscious at an altitude of around 8,500 metres above sea level.

But it has now emerged that, by chance, she had got into trouble just at the time when a British team was operating the world's highest medical laboratory on Everest's South Col.

The Coventry Telegraph told last week how Mr Imray (pictured right), vascular and transplant surgeon at University Hospital, had reached the highest point on Earth along with other medical professionals researching the effects on individuals of reduced oxygen levels in the blood.

One of the leading doctors, Mike Grocott, has now told how Ms Bista was brought to them by the climbers who found her.

They quickly diagnosed cerebral edema - or swelling of the brain - due to low oxygen levels and treated her at their mountainside lab.

Dr Grocott said: "This wasn't what we intended to get involved in, but something where we were compelled to help with when the situation arose."

Ms Bista was found alone and unconscious in the so-called "death zone" near the summit of the 8,848-metre mountain. She later said that her sherpa and team leader left her after she became sick and collapsed on her way up Everest on May 21.

Dr Grocott was leading the Caudwell Xtreme Everest team investigating hypoxia - oxygen deficiency in the blood - and set a record by constructing the world's highest laboratory at the South Col and taking blood samples near the peak.

The research is recognised as the world's largest human biology experiment at high altitude Now safely back off the summit, Mr Imray has recounted in a web blog the moment he stood on top of the world: "At last it was possible to climb no higher. There was a mass of prayer flags fluttering in the bitterly cold and strong wind. It was so cold that we spent the shortest possible time on the summit. Initially there was an enormous feeling of elation... then a few private moments were taken to contemplate the effort and commitment that was required to get to the highest point on earth."

Patients who will benefit from the high altitude research in future will include those with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Cystic Fibrosis, to those with emphysema, septic shock and 'blue babies' as well as stroke patients.