Missing hiker found alive after month: '1 day later and he would have been dead'
The search should not have lasted a day longer, authorities stress. For 39-year-old Robert was close to a tragic end after he disappeared without a trace on July 31 while hiking in North Cascades National Park, in northern Washington.
The American hiker had no overnight gear with him when he disappeared. So the hope of still finding him alive grew smaller and smaller every day. But on Aug. 30, he was suddenly found alive in the national park!
A rescue team was repairing a collapsed path and suddenly heard something near a river. It turned out to be the 39-year-old missing Robert. But the man was in very poor health, a nonprofit organization stressed.
He was found “half unconscious and exposed to the elements.” “His situation was dire.” The team kept the man alive for several hours until rescue teams arrived to take him to a hospital. “When our team found Robert, he was able to tell them he had been trapped in that exact spot for about two weeks,” Shock wrote.
According to emergency services, the man was recovered “alive and well,” but he appeared to be severely debilitated. “He is not doing well. Those involved in the rescue are convinced that Robert had only a day to live before the outcome of the search would have been much more tragic.”
(FVDV for Tagtik/Illustration picture: Photo by Alex Moliski on Unsplash)