Lukas McClish, 34, went missing in remote California mountains has been found alive after 10 days despite not telling anyone where he was going after he drank a gallon of water per day out of his boot to survive.
WHAT HAPPENED
He had set out on a three-hour walk through the Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Boulder Creek on June 11 after he visited a friend who told him there were rare granite outcroppings in the area.
Lukas did not tell anyone where he was going and had only brought a few supplies because he only planned to be out for the afternoon. He didn’t even bother putting a shirt on.
‘I left with a pair of pants, and my hiking shoes and a hat,’ McClish told KGO-TV. ‘I had a flashlight and a pair of folding scissors, like a Leatherman tool – and that was about it.’
HE WAS DECLARED MISSING
His family began to worry when he did not show up for Father’s Day, and filed a missing person’s report.
That sparked a massive manhunt, involving nearly 300 people and emergency personnel from several agencies.
As search efforts continued, McClish started shouting for help as he experienced hypothermia and slipped while going over a rock face.
‘Help, help, I’m over here,’ he remembers screaming over and over during days eight and nine, along with ‘Is anybody out there?’
At the same time, McClish said he kept dreaming about his next meal as he was forced to survive on wild berries.
‘I wanted a burrito or a taco bowl,’ he said. ‘That’s what I thought about every day when I, after the first five days, when I started to kind of realize that I might be in over my head.’
READ ALSO: Tom Cruise’ estranged teenage daughter, 18, DROPS his last name for her big life milestone
HOW HE WAS RESCUED
Finally, at around 7.30pm on Thursday, two park rangers were making their way up a hill and heard McClish’s screams.
‘I’m thinking, I hope this isn’t a mirage,’ McClish recounted.
But the Boulder Creek Fire Department soon deployed a drone and spotted him, while a dog tracked him down.
He was then escorted out of the wilderness by police, and was reunited with his anxious family.
WHAT DOCTORS REMOVED FROM HIS BACK
McClish would go on to spend Thursday night safely at a local hospital, where doctors removed rocks from his back.
Before he was rescued on June 20, he spent nine nights and 10 days – shirtless – foraging for himself as he drank water from the creek out of his boot, ate wild berries and slept on wet leaves, losing around 2.5st (30lbs) in weight.
‘I just made sure I drank a gallon of water every day, but then after, getting close to the end of it, my body needed food and some kind of sustenance,’ he said.
