Bonita Norris during her ascent of Manaslu last year

Record-breaking Everest summiteer Kenton Cool has praised a team of Sherpas who put their own lives at risk to save a British woman’s life after she slipped on the mountain.

The drama began as Bonita Norris descended from Everest’s summit after setting her own record as youngest British woman to reach the top of the world’s highest mountain.

Her ascent, guided by Kenton Cool on his own eighth successful Everest expedition, went well despite Ms Norris having to queue with her Sherpa Lhakpa as the peak season ‘crowds’ made their ascent of the mountain.

However, while descending the Hillary Step, the 12m rockface just 88m below the summit, she took a slip and fell backwards, injuring her back. She carried on but soon lost feeling in her neck and shoulders and eventually could not walk any further as pain shot up her back.

Any injury that slows down a mountaineer in the death zone above 8,000m is potentially fatal and Ms Norris and Lhakpa radioed Cool – back at Camp Four after his own successful summit – that they had made only 60m of descent in an hour.

Kenton Cool: "Sherpas were fantastic"

A team of Sherpas set off back up the mountain carrying extra oxygen and medicine. Cool also decided to reascend with a Maltese doctor Greg Attard. By the time the two men found the 22-year-old Berkshire woman, she had been on The Balcony – a small ledge at 8,400m – for 12 hours. Cool found the Sherpas massaging the woman’s legs and giving her hot water, a sign they feared she had severe frostbite.

She apologised to the two for causing trouble.

The Sherpas had managed to splint her legs together and lower her on her harness, but had reached a point where it was impossible to continue the operation because of the difficult terrain.

Blogging after her ordeal, Bonita said: “I don’t remember much, apart from the pain of being dragged across ice and rock as they attempted to get me back to Camp Four as quickly as possible.

“My neck was blinding with pain, but I remember having conversations with the Sherpas and thinking I felt OK bar the neck. I knew if I just let them do the job we would all be home safe.

“Before I knew it Kenton’s headlight was glaring into my face. He had marched up the face again to ensure I was doing OK, and had bought others with him, including a doctor from another team, just in case.

“After that I remember being at camp pretty quickly, hot tea being poured down my throat and down jackets and sleeping bags shoved onto me. Kenton and the team warmed me up.

“They were dreading seeing my feet, thinking I might have frost damage. Thankfully all digits were in order, and I passed out asleep from a 28-hour ascent of Everest as they sorted me into my spot in the tent.”

In fact, the successful rescue was down to an injection by Dr Attard into the woman’s arm of dexamethasone – a steroid used to treat cerebral and pulmonary oedema in acute high-altitude sickness. She was then able to walk, aided, to Camp Four and then continue down to Base Camp where she is recovering well.

Cool later told the Observer newspaper: “The Sherpas and support team were fantastic. It was a pretty precarious situation. One simple slip and they could have all been down the line. The Sherpas were laying everything on the line to get her back down.”

Ms Norris said of her ordeal: “I owe Kenton, the Sherpas and the rest of the team my life.”

Kenton Cool said the fact the accident happened on the world’s highest peak probably helped save Bonita’s life. Speaking to the newspaper, he said: “It’s a very safe mountain because the commercial teams here have the experience and the manpower to cope with emergencies so that a simple slip doesn’t manifest itself in disaster.

“But if it had happened on a really small mountain, perhaps she wouldn’t be alive. I have lost 36 friends but not one on Everest.”

And Bonita remains sanguine about the episode. “I have come out of this experience, I believe, unchanged,” she said. “It has simply compounded my beliefs: work hard, believe in yourself, follow your dreams.

“There are no shortcuts; expect setbacks; expect it to be hard. If you want it badly enough, if you want to be a very good runner or an Everest summiteer, you have to be honest with yourself and work your butt off.

“But never underestimate yourself. I really hope I have shown people this in some way.”