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| Seamus Lawless who is missing on Everest |
A climber who fell to his death after reaching the summit of Mount Everest messaged his pregnant wife to say he'd "done it" shortly before the tragedy.
Irishman Seamus Lawless, 39, fell on Thursday, and guides were forced to abandon the search for him.
He was one of 11 climbers to lose their lives on the world's highest mountain in just nine days.
At a service to remember him, the Irish Sun reports, a priest revealed Mr Lawless had sent a final text to wife Pamela.
Parish priest Fr Michael O'Kelly told the service in County Wicklow that "he'd done it, reached the summit and was coming home".
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| The 39-year-old dad messaged his wife shortly before he died |
Mr Lawless, a professor of artificial intelligence at Trinity College Dublin, died just hours after summiting Mt Everest.
He fell up to 500 metres during his descent from an altitude of 8,300m, in an area known as the balcony.
It was his ambition to climb Everest before he turned 40 this July.
His expectant wife Pam, along with their four-year-old daughter Emma attended the memorial service, the Irish Mirror reports .
Close childhood friend Rob Ward said: “Shay was such a happy person, loyal, ambitious, charismatic, a true friend who would do anything for anyone and had friends far and wide.
“He had a wonderful personality and made so many different friends. He treated everyone the same and with respect whether they were a business CEO or a little child. Everyone was equal.
“It was his dream to reach Everest. We (childhood friends) thought he was having a mid-life crisis when he said he wanted to climb Everest but since he was a teenager he spoke about mountains.
“None of us could really figure out what he did. We always likened him to various characters in shows such as Friends and the Big Bang Theory because he had brains to burn.
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| The search for Mr Lawless was called off |
“During the past week, I had the chance to go through a book of previous memories his wife Pam has. It has stories of their hikes, playing and stories they did together as a family with Emma. Shay adored them and he told Emma, ‘Don’t go growing up on me. Keep staying the way you are until I come back.’
“It is fitting now that Shay’s final resting place is on top of the world. Rest in peace my friend.”
In a heartbreaking statement, Trinity College revealed that the search had been stopped in order to not endanger anybody else’s life in the treacherous conditions on the mountain.
They said: “It is with deep sadness that we have learnt this evening that the search for our friend and colleague, Séamus (Shay) Lawless, has been unsuccessful.
“While the experienced search team has made every effort to locate Shay, the extremes of operating at high altitude and the sheer range of the search area ultimately proved too difficult and based on expert advice the Lawless family have decided to call off the search rather than risk endangering anyone’s life in the treacherous conditions.
“The tragic death of our friend and colleague, Séamus (Shay) Lawless, has come as a huge shock to all of us."
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| Robin Fisher became unwell when he was 150 metres down from the sumit |
On Saturday British climber Robin Fisher, 44, lost his life in the so-called "death zone" on the way down - which is known for having low levels of oxygen.
His partner Kristyn Carriere wrote on Facebook : "He got his goal. My heart is broken. It was his ultimate challenge."
His devastated family called Robin an "aspirational adventurer".
In a statement, relatives said: "He achieved so much in his short life, climbing Mont Blanc, Aconcagua and Everest.
"He was a 'tough guy', triathlete, and marathoner. A champion for vegetarianism, published author, and a cultured theatre-goer, lover of Shakespeare.
"We are deeply saddened by his loss as he still had so many more adventures and dreams to fulfil."
