An Irish mountaineer was in intensive care in a French hospital yesterday after he was caught in an avalanche in the Alps.
Mr Tony Burke (37), a member of the successful 1993 Irish Everest expedition, sustained injuries to his face and legs and was in hospital in Chamonix. Mr Burke's father, hypnotherapist Mr Tony Sadar, said he had been pulled from the avalanche by his climbing partner and was lucky to be alive.
"They had set out to go up the mountains and Tony's partner realised he had forgotten something and turned back to collect it," Mr Sadar said. "Next minute, he looked around and Tony had been swept away in snow."
Mr Burke runs his own computer business in Cardiff, Wales. He is married with two young children. His wife, Joanne, was travelling to France yesterday.
