| CNN | - |
(CNN)
-- When he came to, Gene Penaflor knew he had to do something. He
didn't know how long he'd been unconscious; just that he was in the
wilderness, a man of 72 who had lost his way while hunting deer.
| CNN | - |
(CNN)
-- When he came to, Gene Penaflor knew he had to do something. He
didn't know how long he'd been unconscious; just that he was in the
wilderness, a man of 72 who had lost his way while hunting deer.
Lost in the wilderness: 72-year-old man survives 19 days, eating lizards, squirrels
updated 8:30 AM EDT, Mon October 14, 2013
Man survives 19 days on algae, snakes
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Gene Penaflor, 72, fell unconscious in a California national forest
- He has no idea how long he was out
- He had a gun but no energy to hunt big game, so he ate squirrels, frogs and lizards
- Rescuers' search was futile, but after 19 days, hunters stumbled upon Penaflor
He had to quickly figure out how to survive, what to eat and drink, and how to stay warm.
And for almost three weeks, Penaflor did just that: subsisting on a diet of lizards, frogs and squirrels.
Penaflor was separated
from his hunting buddy on September 24. At first, he tried find his way
on foot out of the Mendocino National Forest, a vast nature preserve in
northern California. But he was disoriented and quickly gave up.
He stayed put in hope
that someone would find him. In his 19 days cut off from humanity, it
snowed several times, and temperatures dropped to 25 degrees Fahrenheit
some nights.
Then help came.
Gene Penaflor, 72, was found Saturday after being lost in the Mendocino National Forest in California for 19 days.
Penaflor made it to a
hospital in the town of Ukriah on the edge of the forest, where his
family surrounded his bed. Doctors checked him over and released him. He
is back home, his son Jeremy told CNN.
"He's good. He's hanging in there. He looks like nothing changed except he grew a beard."
Lost
Hunter missing 19 days found alive
Flank the deer on two sides; no matter where it runs, your buddy or you are pretty sure to bag it.
It's a common hunting strategy. But it got Penaflor separated from his hunting partner on September 24.
They had split up at
their base camp, walking over separate ridges, and were going to meet up
down the path a few hours later for lunch. Penaflor never showed.
A day later, his hunting
buddy reported him missing to the Mendocino County sheriff, who sent
out a search party a day later assembled from nearly two dozen country
and state law enforcement offices.
After scouring the
mountain range on foot and with rescue dogs, and in the air for four
days, they found no clues leading to Penaflor.
A hefty storm blew in, and they suspended the search.
The accident
Penaflor had walked out into the woods much farther than he had planned, his son said.
He slipped on a steep slope and hit his head. It knocked him out cold, and he has no idea for how long.
He still had his hunting
rifle, but he told his son that he didn't have the strength to hunt a
deer. "He told me it was mainly in survival mode. He was trying to save
energy," the son said.
Instead, Penaflor
focused on small game, foraged for algae in a stream and drank water
from a creek. To stay dry, he crouched under a fallen tree, and to keep
warm, he made a fire and packed dry leaves and grass around his body.
He never stopped trying, and his family did not give up hope. "We knew he was out there," said Jeremy Penaflor.
The rescue
The search party went
out again Saturday to look for the 72-year-old, and this time the group
was about half the size of the original one. But someone beat them to
Penaflor.
A hunter called the
sheriff's office in the morning, saying he and his large group of
friends could hear a man crying for help from down in a valley.
The cell phone
connection dropped out again and again, before deputies could note his
location, the sherriff's office said. They instructed the hunter to call
911, and the operator locked in on his GPS coordinates.
Penaflor's cries led the
hunting party to him. They cut poles from trees and affixed their coats
to them to fashion a makeshift stretcher to carry him out.
Rescuers met up with the
group hours later, as they heaved him up a steep hill. They called a
helicopter to ferry him to Ukiah Valley Medical Center.
Hugs and tears
When his family saw him, no one spoke, Jeremy Penaflor said. "Just hugs. And we were in tears."
He released a photograph to the media, showing his father in a hospital bed, smiling and giving a thumbs-up.
No more hunting for now, the son said.
"If he decides to hunt in a couple of years, that's fine. But we joked around and said let's make it a camping trip."
If he goes out again, his son wants to be with him.
CNN's Dave Alsup contributed to this report.
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