Ian Snyder, 34, found himself at the base of a waterfall and near a freshwater stream when he came to, something that likely kept him alive as he waited for three full days before being discovered by rescue workers.
A California man experienced a true holiday miracle after surviving a 1,000-foot fall while hiking in Hawaii.
Ian Snyder, 34, traveled to the Koolau Summit Trail for a solo hike on Dec. 3 when he suddenly found himself falling and then woke up hours later, he said at a news conference on Tuesday.
He said that he found himself at the base of a waterfall and near a freshwater stream when he came to, something that likely kept him alive as he waited for three full days before being discovered by rescue workers.
"Once I came to I had no idea what had happened or how long it had been. I really, I can't remember if it was the daytime, nighttime," said Snyder. "It was chilly, but it's Hawaii so it was not that cold, so I know it'd be okay."
He managed to get water from the stream and position himself "between two rocks" to protect him from the wind.
"And I kind of just hunkered down from there and time passed, I did not have any understanding of how long," he said.
Snyder, a father of three whose children are 16, 13, and 9, said that he accepted the possibility that he might die after seeing his location.
"If this is my time, I'm ready to go," Snyder recalled thinking at the time.
What he did have, he said, was a "tiny bit of liquid" and a "patch of sky," which is where three days after his fall he spotted a rescue helicopter.
Honolulu Fire Capt. Adrian Gravalho said at the news conference that he and his team were in "disbelief" when they looked down to see Snyder waving back up at them.
Gravallho said his team focused on the area after tracking the last known location of Snyder's phone.
Once lifted to safety, Snyder was treated for a broken arm and some cuts and bruises but had no major injuries.
When asked how Snyder could have survived this fall and then walked away with so few injuries, Gravallho said: “We still don’t understand how to explain it.”
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