By virtue of chance, a couple’s quiet camping trip turns into an emergency rescue
Allison Scott and her boyfriend made an excursion to the southern California wilderness when a plane skimmed low overhead. As it flew by, they heard a man’s voice shouting for help.
It led them to a ridge over which they spotted a lone hiker, whose name, as they later learned, was Eric.
Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.
“‘Hey I see you,’” Scott’s boyfriend yelled back to the hiker. “He had a stick with a water bottle on it trying to signal,” she added in the interview with ABC 7.
The couple reached the man, who said he was from Oceanside and had been stranded for two weeks after getting lost in the remote area. All he had to eat was the condiment he brought along the way: a half jar of salsa.
-
Three men stranded on a remote Pacific island wrote a huge SOS in the sand, and it worked
-
Hikers in B.C. unfurl their turbans to rescue two people in distress
“He couldn’t walk,” explained Scott. “His feet were extremely swollen and infected just from walking so much, and possibly the cold where he was.”
By virtue of chance, the couple’s camping trip at Big Bear Lake had turned into an emergency rescue. Scott and her boyfriend immediately called 911.
A chopper arrived, and Eric was airlifted to a waiting ambulance, according to Outside.
Scott wanted to know how he fared, so she tracked him down. Thankfully, Scott relayed Eric was doing well. He offered dinner if the couple ever got themselves to Oceanside.
“He also said, ‘I’m very sorry for putting a damper on your camping trip,’ and I said, ‘I’m just glad you’re OK,'” Scott added. “‘I’m glad we found you.'”