Thought I would share how a Oregon Man survived 17 days in the woods There is even video of him and his wife telling their story if you go straight to the linked article. https://katu.com/news/local/lost-in...e-bugs-drank-own-urine-to-survive-to-see-wife https://www.foxnews.com/us/hiker-found-oregon-17-nights-survival-story Text Version below ~ by David Ochoa and KPIC.com staff ~ Thursday, July 15th 2021 from above URL. “ ROSEBURG, Ore. - Harry Burleigh went fishing in May - and disappeared. For 17 days, his wife worried. His son traveled to Roseburg from Arizona. Search and rescue crews combed the woods east of Roseburg. Then news broke: He'd been found - alive. But for Burleigh himself, those 17 days were a fight to survive one more day to see his wife and family again. He shared his story for the first time Thursday, almost two months after his ordeal. Burleigh said he felt like he left the mountain top with something he didn't have before. His body was beaten and his mind was stretched, but his "life spark" was filled. He also recognizes he didn't follow the general protocols of hiking and fishing. He was rusty; he hadn't been out in a year due to COVID. When the wind picked up, he cut his fishing trip short. But he had the need for a thrill and thought he could "dash" up a trail. He didn't bring any supplies because he thought he would be in and out of a trail. It didn't work out that way. After signing in at the trailhead, he hit a spot where the trail split. He said it would've been a good spot to turn around - but he continued on. When he finally decided to turn around, it was dark. No one knew where he was. He was out of cell service range. Then he realized he would be there overnight. He found a log and cleaned it out. He got bark and laid it down so that he wouldn't be on the ground. He didn't sleep because it was so cold. He got up and was greeted with snow. He tried scaling down a rock and tripped and fell. He hit his head and was bleeding. In an instant, everything got serious. He says it was no longer just a hike. It was survival. Around day 5, he heard a plane. He pulled off his sweater and grabbed his keys and tried to signal it. He says it was no more than 100 feet in the air, but it didn't see him. But that was OK: It proved to Burleigh that people knew he was missing - and they were looking for him. Burliegh said he had watched "Survivor" and seen people start fires on the show, so he tried to make one. It wasn't working. But he remembered 40 years earlier his step-father gave him a magnifying glass that he used to start the fire. It worked. He hoped the smoke would serve as a signal, but it dissipated. He realized he didn't have enough wood to stay where he was, so he decided to get to the high ground. He started putting up markers for searchers, but he also started to faint. That's when he thought about what to do next to stave off hydration - and decided to drink his own urine. Anything to survive one more day and get home to see his wife. He took some "serious tumbles" trying to get to higher ground. He had twisted his ankle and been stabbed in the ball of his other foot by a branch. But he made it up. And there, in the middle of nowhere, he found a waterfall. He stood mesmerized, unsure if anyone else had every seen it. Once he got up on the ridge, he saw the Coast Guard helicopter. But it was too far away and he couldn't get there fast enough. He watched it fly away - but later, he sent "thank you" notes to the two pilots he saw fly by but couldn't get to. He collapsed again and fell on a rock. He hobbled half a mile to find water. He went back to the ridge to put markers and signals. He found a tree broken down with water in the base of the root. The water was brown with insects in it. He drank the water and ate the insects. He called it his "teapot." He made a cross and etched a heart on it, and every time he walked by it he'd say a prayer. The last couple of days, he accepted that he was going to die. He wasn't sad, and there was no fear. He felt like he was swimming in some "harmony." He would drink water off of leaves. On the day it snowed, he filled a baggy with snow and ate it. On the morning he was rescued, he thought he saw blue sky. He pushed to get up. He didn't want to die not doing something. He wanted to live his last moments with the same zeal and zest that he always tried to exercise. He couldn't get the fire going, so he went to get water from his teapot. On the way he heard a big "bellow." He calls the man who rescued him "Guffaw Man." He says the man had eyes of compassion. Rescuers asked him what he'd eaten? He recounted millipedes, scorpions, crawfish, a snail. One SAR member joked with him about escargot. They laughed - and it was euphoric. After being rescued, he was taken to Riverbend hospital where he spent 12 days in intensive care and another 3 days in the hospital to make sure he was OK. He went to the doctor again this week to check on his recovery. His gall bladder and feet remain a concern. But he feels like he left the mountain top with something he didn't have before. His body was beaten and his mind was stretched, but his "life spark" was filled.” https://katu.com/news/local/lost-in...e-bugs-drank-own-urine-to-survive-to-see-wife
