Sixty-five-year-old Ron Dailey, of Selma, Calif., was found alive on Nov. 1 after spending 20 days and nights stranded alone and cold in the Sierra National Forest. What began as a one-day deer hunting trip that began on Oct. 13 turned into a life-and-death situation after a series of mishaps while driving to his destination.
If it wasn’t for another group hunters the story might not have been one of survival. Dailey anticipated being back home the first evening by dinnertime and packed roughly enough food and water for a single day.
Outside Magazine estimates he somehow kept going for 20 days on only 900 calories, total. He rationed himself to a few nuts and a small piece of jerky, portions that lasted roughly two weeks. Water, thankfully, was plentiful from nearby springs.
Murphy’s Law
Dailey, by most news accounts, is described as an experienced hunter. His predicament began with an innocent wrong turn that led him up a high elevation trail more suitable for rock-crawling four-by-fours than his 2002 Dodge Dakota.
He was unable to turn around on the narrow and rugged route. So he pressed on until his vehicle became disabled in the terrain. That left him stranded at roughly 10,000 feet above sea level.
After spending several nights in the vehicle, waiting for rescue, he resigned himself to the long hike back down the off-road trail. His hopes off getting cellular service somewhere downhill vanished after he discovered his smart phone somehow disappeared during his ordeal.
Rescue
Search and rescue members from the Fresno County Posse scoured the mountains looking for Dailey for nearly three weeks. That wrong turn on day one, however, likely put him outside the primary search area.
Dailey, prayed for help throughout the ordeal, and when nearing the point of physical and mental exhaustion punctuated one with, “You gotta send somebody up here to me. I can hardly walk anymore,” according to a recording acquired by ABC News.
Headlights from a truck approached not long after, according to the New York Post. Officials describe his survival as a “miracle.”
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