Singapore family stranded and separated in Nepal return safely

On Sept 17, in a hospital in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu, Singaporean IT professional Anna Yeow, 52, finally embraced her husband after a week of dread and sleepless nights.

- Sarah Stanley

Mr Sam Roberts (second from far left, with his wife and children) slipped and injured his left leg while descending from Annapurna Base Camp. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SAM ROBERTS

(COURTESY OF SAM ROBERTS)

Mr Sam Roberts, 54, had just been airlifted out of the Himalayan mountain range — his left leg injured and their younger son by his side.

“As soon as I saw him, I just hugged him and cried,” Ms Yeow recounts to The Straits Times over the phone on Sept 23. It was a reunion neither had been sure would happen.

Days earlier, protests had swept across Nepal, trapping the Singaporean family of four in different corners of the country.

The quartet had set off from Singapore on Sept 4 for a two-week adventure. Mr Roberts, a Bangalore-born registered clinical counsellor, wanted their two sons, aged 15 and 17, to experience the challenge of the Annapurna trek.

It was also a fundraising hike to raise awareness for mental health and suicide prevention.

Ms Yeow could not join the trek due to an old injury, so she planned to spend her time sightseeing in the city of Pokhara with a close friend who had joined her from Malaysia.

The trip was meant to end on a high note: the wedding of Mr Roberts’ nephew in Mumbai, India, followed by a holiday in Goa. But within days of their arrival, the family’s well-laid plans were disrupted.