Ailing Buzz Aldrin evacuated from South Pole to New Zealand
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — An ailing Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, was evacuated from the South Pole to New Zealand where he was in a hospital on Friday in stable condition.
Aldrin, 86, was visiting Antarctica as a tourist when he fell ill. He was flown to Christchurch from McMurdo Station, a U.S. research centre on the Antarctic coast.
Tour company White Desert said Aldrin has fluid in his lungs, but was responding well to antibiotics. He’ll remain hospitalized overnight for observation. His manager Christina Korp, who accompanied him, said he was in good spirits.
On Twitter, she said the past 24 hours had been grueling. She posted side-by-side photos of Aldrin — one on a stretcher giving a thumbs-up with a purple knit cap on his head, another in a hospital bed, on oxygen and with an IV in his left arm.