An Australian climber who made it to the top of Everest has blamed himself for the death of his South African wife two weeks ago in the "death zone" on the world's highest peak. In an emotional interview with broadcaster Steve Pennells, Robert Gropel spoke of the final hours of Marisa Strydom, who died in his arms on May 20 as they battled to descend the mountain."I'm her husband; it's my job to protect my wife and get her home and it's just natural for me to blame myself," he told Australia's Seven Network. "I still can't look at any pictures of her. It breaks my heart."Gropel described the moment he decided to push on to the top and leave behind his wife, who was suffering from exhaustion and altitude sickness."I didn't want to separate from her; I wanted her to keep going."I asked: 'Do you mind if I go on?' She said: 'You go on, I'll wait for you here'. From that position the summit didn't look that far."Although he made it to the top, he said "it didn't mean anything to me". South Africans who made history on EverestControversy and camaraderie, as well as tragedy and triumph, coloured the two very different summits by South African teams on the world’s greatest mountainDeadly trail to top of the worldOn his way down from the top of Mount Everest, Indian mountaineer Nava Kumar Phukon saw the woman sway from side to side - a sign of severe mountain sickness - as snow and fog reduced visibility to less than 3m.Climber wants to retrieve wife's bodyThe parents of an injured Australian climber travelled to Nepal yesterday to help their son, Robert Gropel, retrieve the body of his wife, South Africa-born Marisa Strydom, from Mount Everest after she died on the slopes on Saturday."It wasn't special for me because I didn't have her there," Gropel said. "I just ran up and down."Once he returned to his wife, they started the slow descent as they both fought the effects of being at above 8000m - a height at which humans can survive for only so long.Gropel shared his oxygen with his wife but the supply ran out, at which point he remembered that he was carrying medication for altitude sickness."It took a while for me to register that I had medication and so as soon as I realised that I did I gave her a dexamethasone injection."Strydom had been without supplementary oxygen for 20 hours when she slipped into unconsciousness. After she died in his arms, Gropel left her body and continued his descent.Gropel, a vet, and Strydom, a university lecturer, had been close to completing the climbing of the Seven Summits, the highest peak on every continent.On Friday, a rescue helicopter brought Strydom's body to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu. - © The Telegraph..