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  • 6 months ago
A 44-year-old man originally from the Bay Area who went missing earlier this month while hiking in India was found alive after nine days, according to his family.

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00:00It seemed like when I jumped to the rock, it almost felt like something grabbed me and just
00:04pulled me down the mountain. It was only supposed to be like a two-hour hike. It was super simple.
00:13It was sunny outside. It was like we were just going up the mountain and then there's this huge
00:18layer cloud of fog just comes over. I'm looking down. I can't see where is what anymore. And I
00:25was with these two Indian guys, but we got separated and I'm trying to get down the mountain
00:28and I'm getting stuck and I'm like, okay, maybe if I hop to that rock, I can see the way down.
00:35Once I jumped to that rock and I'm pretty sure I felt like I made a good jump. Just like got pulled
00:42down and I literally free fall for like three, four seconds straight through a bush. And I landed
00:49and I realized I was conscious. My arm was like broken and my nose was bleeding. And then I tried
00:55to stand and I screamed in pain. So I stayed put. I tried screaming for help. I tried flashing my
01:01headlamp. And then I just realized I'm going to sleep here tonight on the edge of this cliff.
01:06When I woke up after I fell, I instinctively decided I need to get down the mountain. Like I couldn't rely
01:13on search and rescue team coming for me. I had no idea what they would do in India. I was super laser
01:18focused. Like there was no room for negativity. You know, I was, I started eating the bugs. I started
01:24trying all kinds of plants. I was, I was pissing in a bottle and drinking my own pee. And it was pretty
01:30strange to drink it in the beginning. But when you're like hiking and you have no water, like you're
01:34actually excited to drink your own pee. I think by, you know, like by day nine, it's the first time I'm
01:39getting close to this village. I can see a temple, a temple, an Indian temple the first time. And I see
01:44three guys at the temple. I just sit down and I start screaming for an hour, like, help me,
01:50help me, please help me. And I'm trying to communicate, let them know, like I've been lost
01:5510 days. And thank God one of them knew English. So they come down. He literally grabs my hand and we
02:02start, it's like a cliff, man. I'm on a cliff. There's three of us. He's literally pulling me down
02:07and I have to keep up with his speed. And we finally get down and we get to the temple. And that's when like
02:12you know, recovery people come. And after that, it was completely surreal. You know, like the car
02:20came, they drove me to the hospital. And then I started to realize how many people were looking
02:25for me. Sometimes you forget how many people love you, you know, in this life. And like I said,
02:30it's like, it's almost like I had a funeral and I died, but I survived at the end. You know,
02:35so I was able to see how much love I really have from my friends and family. I'm so grateful for
02:41everyone who helped in every way possible from the bottom of my heart.
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