Dr. Maria Strydom was a lecturer with the Department of Banking and Finance at Monash University in Australia since 2006.

Before attempting to climb Mount Everest Strydom had already conquered:

Death

In trying to prove that 'vegans could do anything', Strydom embarked on the journey to climb the Seven Summits including to the top of Mount Everest with her husband Robert Gropel.

Strydom died of altitude sickness on 5/21/2016 after turning away from the final leg of the climb.

Strydom's husband is injured but is expected to survive.

Strydom was climbing Everest with on a trek organized by the company Seven Summits Treks. Her sister Aletta Newman said that she was not contacted by the company when Maria died. She said that she only found out about Strydom 's death by googling her name.