Mountaineer Dies While Raising Funds for Children with Cancer (4 pics)
Alexander Penko, 39, died in the Himalayas while raising money for a children's charity. The father of two from Illinois, USA, suffered a heart attack at Camp 2 on Nepal's Mount Makalu, the fifth-highest peak in the world. 
On May 4, Penko, who had a brain tumor and is battling leukemia, returned from a training climb. He had yet to reach Camp 3 at 7,400 meters.
Alexander raised $27,838 for Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago — a dollar for every foot he climbed. Twenty years ago, surgeons at the hospital removed his brain tumor. 
In 2023, while climbing Ama Dablam in the Himalayas, Alexander experienced "severe hypoxia and couldn't cope with the altitude."
"A few months later, I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. I learned that my body cannot produce red blood cells, which are necessary for adaptation to high altitude," he said before climbing Makalu.
"CML is a lifelong diagnosis, and after almost two years of treatment, I am ready to conquer Makalu. It will be a huge challenge for me - climbing at altitude is very difficult even without a chronic disease. But I am looking forward to the moment when I can take on this challenge." 
Penko was with his four-man team when he lost consciousness. They tried to revive him for over an hour, but their efforts were in vain.
In 2019, the American completed the Explorer's Grand Slam, which includes climbing the highest mountain on each of the seven continents, as well as expeditions to the North and South Poles.
He is one of only 75 people in the world to have achieved this feat. In the process, he raised $500,000 for charity. 
