My Heroine nevertheless...
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http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_242183.html
May 29, 2008 
Linda gives up Everest climb
THE score stands at Mount Everest 1, Singaporean Linda Tan, 0.
Although she did not explain her slow progress, my paper understands Ms Tan has been coughing over the past few days to the point that her chest hurt. -- PHOTO: LINDA TANThe 28-year-old financial planner, who would have been the Republic's first woman to conquer the world's highest mountain, called a friend back home late on Tuesday night (Singapore time) to say she had turned around - and given up.
Her friend, engineer Tay Chee Meng, 30, who spoke with her, said she had trekked four to five hours towards the summit before abandoning her climb.
She told him that she had been walking very slowly. Even her sherpa - her native mountaineering guide - had repeatedly asked her to speed up.
Climbers attempting to reach Everest's summit must keep track of time because routes become more treacherous as the day warms up and ice melts. It is also preferable to return to camp before nightfall.
Although she did not explain her slow progress, my paper understands Ms Tan has been coughing over the past few days to the point that her chest hurt.
She has also spent three nights in what is known as the 'death zone' - the altitude of 8,000m and beyond above sea level - where any exposed body part is susceptible to frostbite, and where oxygen levels are very low.
'She was sobbing as she talked to me,' said Mr Tay.
Of the dejected Ms Tan, he said: 'She told me she doesn't want to climb again, she doesn't want to train anymore and just wants to eat and put on weight.
'But that's a normal reaction of anyone who has just completed something that has tested the limit of human endurance.'
That said, climbing Bukit Timah Hill - just 164m high - 'would be okay', she had joked with Mr Tay. -- my paper