Robert Ringo was hiking in Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert when he fell on rocks in the rugged terrain.
Chilling video has captured a stranded hiker's desperate plea for help during what he feared would be his final days. Robert Ringo was hiking in Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert, with temperatures above 100 degrees, when he fell on rocks in the rugged terrain.
With no cell service and no one around for miles, the 67-year-old turned his camera on to record himself.
"My problem is, I can't stand. I can't turn. I can't sit. I certainly can't walk," Ringo said in the video. "Probably nobody will ever see this."
He tried to crawl his way to his car that was parked less than a mile away, but his pain was unimaginable.
He survived eating juniper berries. Fortunately, he also had extra water and made a canopy out of his hat. But his supplies were running low, and his situation was growing more dire by the minute. After 40 excruciating hours, help finally arrived.
"It was a miracle," Ringo said. "Forty hours later a helicopter was here, and I'm here. And I couldn't see his eyes but I knew we met.
Ringo said that when he parked his car to go on the walk, he sent his location to his son, but with no cell service, the message never arrived. Today, he is recovering. "I am doing very well," he said. "Extremely well. Mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically, I am doing great."
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