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GRAND JUNCTION — Jason Lhotka of Grand Junction didn’t really die from a congenital heart problem while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro last October as initially reported.
After some digging, his wife, Elena Lhotka, discovered her husband actually died from a preventable and treatable condition that often affects people at high altitudes. Lhotka died in Tanzania on Oct. 4, 2007, of high altitude pulmonary edema, or HAPE, while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with his mother, Sandra Menefee of Breckenridge.
“The condition is brought on by high altitudes in people who are susceptible to it,” said Dr. Peter Hackett, director of the Institute for Altitude Medicine in Telluride and widely considered one of the world’s leading experts on high-altitude medical conditions. High altitude pulmonary edema occurs when capillaries in the lungs leak fluid into the air sacs. The lungs fill up with plasma and the person drowns from all the fluid, said Hackett, who, at Elena’s request, reviewed Lhotka’s autopsy report and medical history.
Hackett discussed his diagnosis with Elena about a month ago, and she said she received his full written report on Lhotka’s death last week.
“He obviously died of high altitude pulmonary edema,” Hackett said. The misdiagnosis was “a simple mistake by someone who didn’t read the autopsy report correctly.”
Lhotka was a sergeant with the street crimes unit of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department and the father of a 3-year-old boy, Nicholas. He had trained extensively for the Kilimanjaro trip and was healthy. He and his mother were adventurous types who loved the outdoors and had backpacked together often.
“For part of our honeymoon, we biked through China with his mom, stepdad and sister,” Elena said.
“He loved to backpack,” making several trips a year around Silver Jack Reservoir in the Uncompahgre National Forest, Elena recalled.
Elena and Jason Lhotka were married August 1, 2002, on top of a mountain near Silver Jack.
For their Kilimanjaro trip, Lhotka and his mother hired Geographic Expeditions — a San Francisco-based company that leads outdoor trips around the world. The company provided experienced guides and the porters needed to reach the 19,340-feet summit of Kilimanjaro.
Geographic Expeditions initially told Elena that Lhotka had an enlarged heart and died of congenital heart disease. The company’s assessment was based on information provided by an emergency doctor working at the African hospital where Lhotka died.
Months later, still seeking answers, Elena had an hour-long telephone conversation with one of the African guides who was on the trip.
He described to her Lhotka’s symptoms and behavior on his descent of the mountain and the one-and-a-half hour drive to the hospital, where he died 30 minutes after arriving.
“That was a turning point for all of us,” Elena said. “We knew we needed to ask more questions.”
Elena gathered the medical records from Africa, reports from Geographic Expeditions and all Lhotka’s medical records in Grand Junction. She then turned the autopsy report and records over to Hackett, who determined the cause of death to be HAPE.
“In Telluride we see about 30 to 40 cases a year,” Hackett said. “There are a couple hundred cases in Colorado every year. People don’t die because they come to the clinic.”
Some come close to death, however, and a few people’s cases, like Lhotka’s, can be hard to diagnose, Hackett said.
After conducting an independent review roughly in conjunction with Elena’s probing of her husband’s death, Geographic Expeditions has since also acknowledged Lhotka likely died of HAPE. Geographic Expeditions could not be reached for comment prior to press time.
Geographic Expeditions employs experienced guides who are trained to recognize HAPE symptoms and are equipped to treat clients who suffer from it.
During his ascent, Lhotka became so fatigued he decided to turn around and go back to base camp. A guide and several porters accompanied him.
Lhotka insisted his mother continue her ascent, which is common on trips of this nature. Menefee did not learn of learn of her son’s death until returning to base camp after summiting.
It took Lhotka two-and-a-half days to reach the base camp from his turn-around point — a trip that should have taken a day, Elena said.
The guide carried oxygen with him, but never administered it, said Elena, based on reports she received from Geographic Expeditions.
“The problem is they didn’t recognize the problem,” Hackett said. “He did not present typical symptoms” until it was too late.
“It they had given him oxygen, it would have saved his life.”
Lhotka walked seven to nine hours from camp toward the gate at the base of the mountain, collapsing about 45 minutes before the gate. Only then did the porters following behind Lhotka with a rolling stretcher use it.
Elena said her reason for contacting the Free Press more than six months after Lhotka’s death was to put forth the truth.
For the sake of her husband’s memory, Elena said she wants people to know that Lhotka was healthy and did not have a heart condition that would have prevented him from doing his job as a member of the sheriff’s department.
She also said she no longer worries about their son Nicholas inheriting a heart problem.
The last time Elena and Nicholas saw Lhotka was on Nicholas’ third birthday, Sept. 19, 2007.
“He says night-night to dad every night,” Elena said. “He talks to him all the time.”
Elena has created a Web site to keep Lhotka’s memory alive: www.jasonlhotka.com.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
After some digging, his wife, Elena Lhotka, discovered her husband actually died from a preventable and treatable condition that often affects people at high altitudes. Lhotka died in Tanzania on Oct. 4, 2007, of high altitude pulmonary edema, or HAPE, while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with his mother, Sandra Menefee of Breckenridge.
“The condition is brought on by high altitudes in people who are susceptible to it,” said Dr. Peter Hackett, director of the Institute for Altitude Medicine in Telluride and widely considered one of the world’s leading experts on high-altitude medical conditions. High altitude pulmonary edema occurs when capillaries in the lungs leak fluid into the air sacs. The lungs fill up with plasma and the person drowns from all the fluid, said Hackett, who, at Elena’s request, reviewed Lhotka’s autopsy report and medical history.
Hackett discussed his diagnosis with Elena about a month ago, and she said she received his full written report on Lhotka’s death last week.
“He obviously died of high altitude pulmonary edema,” Hackett said. The misdiagnosis was “a simple mistake by someone who didn’t read the autopsy report correctly.”
Lhotka was a sergeant with the street crimes unit of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department and the father of a 3-year-old boy, Nicholas. He had trained extensively for the Kilimanjaro trip and was healthy. He and his mother were adventurous types who loved the outdoors and had backpacked together often.
“For part of our honeymoon, we biked through China with his mom, stepdad and sister,” Elena said.
“He loved to backpack,” making several trips a year around Silver Jack Reservoir in the Uncompahgre National Forest, Elena recalled.
Elena and Jason Lhotka were married August 1, 2002, on top of a mountain near Silver Jack.
For their Kilimanjaro trip, Lhotka and his mother hired Geographic Expeditions — a San Francisco-based company that leads outdoor trips around the world. The company provided experienced guides and the porters needed to reach the 19,340-feet summit of Kilimanjaro.
Geographic Expeditions initially told Elena that Lhotka had an enlarged heart and died of congenital heart disease. The company’s assessment was based on information provided by an emergency doctor working at the African hospital where Lhotka died.
Months later, still seeking answers, Elena had an hour-long telephone conversation with one of the African guides who was on the trip.
He described to her Lhotka’s symptoms and behavior on his descent of the mountain and the one-and-a-half hour drive to the hospital, where he died 30 minutes after arriving.
“That was a turning point for all of us,” Elena said. “We knew we needed to ask more questions.”
Elena gathered the medical records from Africa, reports from Geographic Expeditions and all Lhotka’s medical records in Grand Junction. She then turned the autopsy report and records over to Hackett, who determined the cause of death to be HAPE.
“In Telluride we see about 30 to 40 cases a year,” Hackett said. “There are a couple hundred cases in Colorado every year. People don’t die because they come to the clinic.”
Some come close to death, however, and a few people’s cases, like Lhotka’s, can be hard to diagnose, Hackett said.
After conducting an independent review roughly in conjunction with Elena’s probing of her husband’s death, Geographic Expeditions has since also acknowledged Lhotka likely died of HAPE. Geographic Expeditions could not be reached for comment prior to press time.
Geographic Expeditions employs experienced guides who are trained to recognize HAPE symptoms and are equipped to treat clients who suffer from it.
During his ascent, Lhotka became so fatigued he decided to turn around and go back to base camp. A guide and several porters accompanied him.
Lhotka insisted his mother continue her ascent, which is common on trips of this nature. Menefee did not learn of learn of her son’s death until returning to base camp after summiting.
It took Lhotka two-and-a-half days to reach the base camp from his turn-around point — a trip that should have taken a day, Elena said.
The guide carried oxygen with him, but never administered it, said Elena, based on reports she received from Geographic Expeditions.
“The problem is they didn’t recognize the problem,” Hackett said. “He did not present typical symptoms” until it was too late.
“It they had given him oxygen, it would have saved his life.”
Lhotka walked seven to nine hours from camp toward the gate at the base of the mountain, collapsing about 45 minutes before the gate. Only then did the porters following behind Lhotka with a rolling stretcher use it.
Elena said her reason for contacting the Free Press more than six months after Lhotka’s death was to put forth the truth.
For the sake of her husband’s memory, Elena said she wants people to know that Lhotka was healthy and did not have a heart condition that would have prevented him from doing his job as a member of the sheriff’s department.
She also said she no longer worries about their son Nicholas inheriting a heart problem.
The last time Elena and Nicholas saw Lhotka was on Nicholas’ third birthday, Sept. 19, 2007.
“He says night-night to dad every night,” Elena said. “He talks to him all the time.”
Elena has created a Web site to keep Lhotka’s memory alive: www.jasonlhotka.com.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
