Woman dead in Nepal earthquake had Chicago ties

Marisa Eve Girawong, a graduate of Chicago's Malcolm X College, is among the Americans killed in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in Nepal.
(Madison Mountaineering)

A graduate of Chicago's Malcolm X College is among the Americans killed in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in Nepal.

Marisa Eve Girawong, who worked with the medical personnel for Madison Mountaineering, a Seattle-based mountain guide company, died in an avalanche resulting from Saturday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

"It is with deep sorrow and profound grief that we can confirm the loss," the company said in a statement on its website, describing Girawong, who went by Eve, as a base camp doctor for Mount Everest and Lhotse expeditions. "... Our thoughts and prayers are with Eve and her family and friends."

Girawong attended Malcolm X College's physician assistant program from 2010 to 2012, during which she completed her medical training at Stroger Hospital in Chicago, said B. Jang Mi Johnson, a senior physician assistant at the Illinois Dermatology Institute who taught Girawong in the Malcolm X College-Stroger program. Girawong graduated with honors from the program, according to her biography on the Madison Mountaineering website.

"She was an excellent student, one of the best we had," Johnson said. "It was really refreshing having a student in the classroom who was interested in the course work, did their assignments and prepared for exams.
"All of the students liked her and all the instructors liked her. Overall, she was a really great person to be around," Johnson said.

She learned of Girawong's death from another former Malcolm X student who was a close friend of Girawong. Just hours before the earthquake, Girawong had posted a Facebook message saying it was snowing on Mount Everest, Johnson said.
"I heard about the earthquake on the news and knowing she was out there, I didn't think she was in danger," Johnson said. "It never crossed my mind."
Girawong was in the process of completing a second master's degree and postgraduate diploma in mountain medicine at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, according to her online biography. Girawong had been an avid indoor and outdoor rock climber for several years, successfully climbing Mount Rainier.
Johnson said Girawong had attended high school and college in New Jersey before continuing her education in Chicago.

This entry was posted on Minggu, 26 April 2015. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.

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Woman dead in Nepal earthquake had Chicago ties

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