Everest dad died not knowing baby

John Delaney died on Saturday after collapsing less than 50 metres from the summit, but the news has just been confirmed as his team was out of contact with their base camp.

The 42-year-old's wife Orla gave birth to their daughter last Wednesday. The little girl - a sister to two-year-old Alexander and three-year-old Casper - is to be called Hope.

"The one person who can describe him best is the one person who can't speak at the moment, and that's Orla," Mrs Delaney's distraught brother, Liam Hurley, told the Press Association.

"He was a generous, loving guy - the family came first for him. He adored his two children, and he spent as much time as he could with them. It's just a shame he's not going to get to meet the third."

He’ll rest in peace as near to the heavens as you can get.

Irish adventurer Pat Falvey

To add to the family's heartache, Mr Delaney's body will remain on the Himalayan peak where he died as it has proven too dangerous for the expedition team to recover it.

Mrs Delaney is being comforted by family, but her brother said: "She's not good. We're all just trying to spend time with her and we are not leaving her.

"She just can't believe it's happened. She was just thinking about when he was coming home, she wasn't thinking about anything else."

Mr Delaney added: "I didn't see him as a brother-in-law, I saw him more as a friend.

"We were very close, and he was a very, very good guy. We're all going to miss him so much."

Originally from Ballinakill in Co Kilkenny, John Delaney was a managing director of an online market prediction company who had been mountaineering for several years.

Among a team of 18 - which included a Belfast man - he was making his second attempt to conquer Everest after a failed bid five years ago.

They left a camp at 8,300 metres last Friday evening in a bid to scale the final section of the 8,848-metre mountain.

"It was so close, yet so far," Irish adventurer Pat Falvey, who knew Mr Delaney and has been in contact with the Everest base camp about the tragedy, said.

"There's not too many words you can put on this, other than shock and devastation. He'll rest in peace as near to the heavens as you can get."

A service will be held in his memory at 2pm on Friday at St Brigid's Church in Ballinakill.