It’s easy to think that many of these survival scenarios will never happen in the real world. But as usual, current events prove this mindset wrong. A hiker in Santa Fe, New Mexico had to survive alone in the forest after an injury.
According to the Santa Fe Fire Department, they recently rescued a man lost in the local woods. They had built a fire to help raise his dangerously low body temperature, fed him, gave him water, and evacuated him to safety. The department claimed that the man was stuck there after a back injury.
“The man suffered from chronic back pain and again injured his back while hiking and could not stand or walk. His gear was stolen at which point he got lost and disoriented.”
After 14 days, the hiker was found about 1,800 feet off of the trail.
“Never had we found somebody who had been out for that long. It’s hard to say. The human body can do some amazing things sometimes but I don’t think he had very much left in him. He seemed kind of at the end when we did actually encounter him.”
The hiker is now safe and recovering in the hospital.
Whenever we hear about stories like this, we like to think about what would have saved them. Considering the nature of the injury (back issues), medical equipment wouldn’t have prevented this. We don’t know what kind of phone signal one could expect in the area, but a satellite phone would have provided immediate assistance. Otherwise, food rations and an emergency blanket (seen in the picture) would have also helped the man survive until help arrived.
Either way, we’re glad the man was safely rescued.