A man from Singapore visiting the Adirondacks in New York who went missing was rescued after he spent three days in a swamp, The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reported.
According to Adirondack Daily Enterprise, the unnamed 58-year old man was saved by forest rangers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Authorities believe he could not have survived the fourth night in Dixpond Swamp if they had not reached him in time.
After getting lost while solo hiking, the man wandered the area for three days. He had left a trail marked and became disoriented. Times Union reported.
Jamison Martin and Andrew Lewis, forest rangers, assisted in the rescue and search in the swamp. They said that the man was in extreme hypothermia because the temperature drops below 40 degrees each night. They claimed that he was drinking swampwater to keep hydrated, and that he had tattered clothing and insect bites covering his face.
The rangers stated that the man was a college teacher who had just quit his job. They also said that he told his wife he was planning to visit the Adirondacks region. According to Adirondack Daily Enterprise, he flew into JFK Airport and rented a car before making his way up the region.
After waiting for him to return, his wife noticed that the signal was gone. She called the rangers for assistance and they responded.
Rangers were able to reach the car rental company that he was using, and they tracked his vehicle through their GPS to Elk Lake Parking Area. This leads to the Dix Range. Adirondack Daily Enterprise reported that rangers found the vehicle, looked at the trail register, and saw that he had signed in but not out.
Lewis revealed to reporters that the man had been found when he was “drenched from head to toe.”
Lewis also added the swamp “one of the most brutal swamps you could get stuck in.”
“You wouldn’t want to be in there three minutes, never mind three days,”Martin said.
The rangers cautioned that the trails could be dangerous and difficult for those who aren’t experienced. The rangers also advised against using GPS or apps for navigation because signals can get lost in the mountains and backwoods.
Rangers recommended that hikers always have a paper map and compass with them, especially when they are out of range or lose their batteries.
“He told his wife that he was never going to hike that mountain range again,”Martin said.
