Even if he was dying, how does that matter? He was a brother in need. There is something very modern and atheistic about such an act, if you ask me.
Have you ever seen 'Touching the Void?' It aired on PBS a couple of years ago, and chronicled some British mountain climbers who ventured into Peru. Can't remember what name of mountain range was.
A couple of these guys got stranded about 3/4 of the way up. While they were trying to figure out a way out of their predicament, one of the guys broke his leg. After having tried to figure out how he was going to get both of them down the mountain, and because of the immense obstacles involved in that effort, he decided to leave the guy with the broken leg to his own devices. The guy with the broken leg did make it back to camp after an unbelievable struggle to get through the other side of the crevice he was stuck in, and then finally crawling all the way down the best way he could.
In the interview, he said that the night(s) he remained stuck in the crevice he felt a malevolent presence, yet claimed to be an atheist. That struck me as so odd, to believe in the devil, but not God.
Anyway, the other climber who had left him came under serious fire from the 'climbing community.' Apparently, to leave a climber is verboten. He said he didn't think he had any other choice, and the guy he'd left with the broken leg didn't seem to hold any bad feelings toward him.
I actually just watched this last week and that's not what he says. He says that the crevasse was an awful, awful place and that he was filled with despair for a time, even having a little crack-up for a while. He'd long considered himself an atheist but now he considered praying. He rejected the idea though, confirming to himself that he really didn't believe in God. He says something like he'd always wondered if his atheism was genuine and whether he'd start praying in a bad situation like that and that fall answered the question for him. There's no malevolent presence described other than impassive ice and rock.
Any way we slice it, I think mountain climbers are nuts. Life presents us with enough challenges that we really don't need to go looking for them.
Your story reminded me of the man who stayed behind with his friend in a wheelchair as the World Trade Center collapsed around them.
By our fruits are we known.