Well, it wasn't like they were in Grand Central Station. I respect the judgement of the hikers who realized he couldn't be saved. Their own lives were on the line.
An excellent book on the Everest climbing experience is "Into Thin Air". After reading the book, my vague romantic notions of climbing Everest were blown away. The climb is near-suicidal, grueling, life-threatening, and apparently not even all that 'scenic'! The detritus of earlier climbs litters the trails; including empty oxygen bottles, camp gear, and the occasional frozen body. It is a testament to the power of human will, madness, and obsession about those who climb Everest.