(LEX 18) Maya Husayni’s trek to Mount Everest wasn’t just for the thrill of it. She chose the location as a touching tribute to a classmate killed in a motorcycle crash near campus in 2016.
Husayni said that 35-year-old Shayn Elexendere was one of the nicest people she had ever met.
The Army veteran was on his way to becoming a nurse when his life was cut short in May of 2016. He left behind his expectant wife and a four-year-old daughter, as well as a huge hole in UK’s Nursing Program.
"He never wanted anyone sitting by themselves or anything like that. He always welcomed me into their study group and things like that," she said.
Before he died, Husayni and Elexendere had discussed Mount Everest. Elexendere had mentioned he’d love to take a shot at climbing the mountain. So, when she got the chance to visit the Mount Everest base camp, Husayni knew she had to do it for him.
"I had kind of been thinking about it all along, because I knew it was something he wanted to do," she said.
In May, she made it to the base camp, she left behind a prayer flag as a tribute to Shayn Elexendere.
"I figured, of course, this is something I could do for Shayn and something his family, and his friends would appreciate also," she said. "Just a way to leave a little of his memory up there, just take a little piece of him up there with me so he can experience too."
