What happened with Spanian? YouTuber’s Mount Everest expedition ends in dramatic rescue

Spanian, a 38-year-old YouTuber, is opening up about his near-death experience during a recent trip to Mount Everest.

The Australian, legally known as Anthony Lees, is a well-known reformed gangster who now spends his time sharing food and travel-related vlogs. In a new YouTube video, titled "I Almost DIED On Mt Everest (EMERGENCY HELICOPTER)," he revealed that he nearly died after he fell sick atop the Himalayan mountains.

After sharing that he'd impulsively decided to traverse the dangerous terrains, he said of what it was like to be able to scale the world's highest mountain in the June 22, 2025, video:

“I just wanted to see what it was all about. So I booked a private chopper to take me to the top. No trek, no camp and no acclimatising.”

According to Dexerto, given how far up the mountain is from sea level, climbers typically require months to acclimate before attempting the climb. Furthermore, upon reaching there, their bodies take even more weeks to be able to adapt, at the risk of getting altitude sickness, which tends to set in at 2500 meters (8202 feet).

Spanian had initially decided to charter a helicopter to pick him up and drop him off at the Everest View Hotel, which is reportedly 3000 meters (9843 feet) above sea level. However, all he had on were a pair of shorts and joggers from Adidas.

“I feel light-headed,” he recalled of exiting the helicopter. “It’s getting way worse,” he added. “I can’t breathe properly, my head hurts, and I’m freezing. I tried to send a voice note to one of my staff and I got a little bit scared, I had a panic attack.”

Spanian then asked the staff at the hotel to measure his oxygen saturation level, which clocked in at 83 percent—a dangerously low level.

“I want to go down the mountain right now, I need to get out of here, I almost passed out,” he said. “I’m actually really upset now, I was going into some sort of collapse.” He added, “I tried to send a voice note to one of my staff and I got a little bit scared, I had a panic attack. I’m weak and unstable, I could die."

Deciding that he needed to get out of there, Spanian called for an emergency helicopter, which allowed him to flee the mountain. Eventually, his symptoms began to subside. The caption for his YouTube video reads as follows:

"I’ve always wondered what made the top of Mount Everest so magical. That view. That silence. That feeling of standing above the world. So when I found a company offering a private helicopter ride partway up — skipping the month-long trek — I couldn’t resist. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience… a shortcut to the top. But what I didn’t realise was how dangerous it is to rise that high, that fast — without any acclimatisation. Little did I know how badly things were about to go."

According to a local Australian outlet, the death toll for the world's highest mountain is record-breaking, with a staggering 322 lives lost since 1922.

Spanian's kebab truck mysteriously burns down, YouTuber blames his competitors for the incident: Read more

Notably, Spanian made headlines just last month when his kebab truck mysteriously burned down. The incident, which took place at Bell Street in Preston, Melbourne, prompted a call from the firefighters, who eventually extinguished the inferno.

The incident took place days after the truck's grand opening, which at the time, Spanian said had 'the biggest turnout' ever. In a video shared online shortly after, he revealed:

'They burnt the front wall, but it's not an issue, there's another truck already on the way. We've got a factory of trucks, we'll get this one rewrapped.' He added, 'I just want to get that out there. The trucks are part of your community, and those people from your community save up for these trucks, and they have to pay for it. They're your people.'

He then speculated that his competitors may have been behind the flames. A Fire Rescue Victoria spokesperson told ABC News at the time:

"Firefighters were able to get the incident under control very quickly and used thermal imaging technology to ensure all hotspots were fully extinguished before leaving the scene."

As of this writing, the exact cause behind the inferno remains unclear. Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more.

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