12 Amazing Stories Of Desert Survival

You might have more than just a casual curiosity towards survival books after reading the survival stories of these desert wanderers — how they made it through, and how they almost didn’t. Here are 12 amazing stories of desert survival.

Victoria Grover

59-year-old Grover was just out for a pleasurable 6-mile hike in Utah when she broke her leg, far from anyone who could hear her screams. The type 2 diabetic had no food, a broken leg, and the desert that would drop to nearly freezing temperatures at night. But she had one more thing: a little survival knowledge. Grover used a stick and her scarf to brace her leg, and she slept during the day so she could hold up a poncho at night to fight off the wind. She was found on her fourth day.

Source: Huffingtonpost.com

Ricky Megee

Megee woke up one day buried in the sand of the Australian desert, unable to remember how he wound up there. Megee managed to make a shelter near a water dam, and lived there for three months, eating leeches, grasshoppers and frogs. Megee was found by farm workers, emaciated and sun-worn.

Source: Australiantraveller.com

Ricky Gilmore

Gilmore, a paraplegic man from New Mexico, hitched a ride from a couple to a liquor store. After refusing to share his liquor with the couple, they threw him out in the middle of the desert. With no food, no water, and no use of his legs, Gilmore dragged himself nearly four miles for three days across the desert until somebody spotted him. When he arrived at the hospital he was nearly in kidney failure and had a blood infection.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

 

Mauro Prosperi

Mauro Prosperi may have the word “prosper” in his name for a very good reason. After entering the Marathon de Sables in the Sahara desert, he got caught in a sand storm that nearly buried him alive. He went the wrong way in the storm, and was lost in the desert for nearly nine days, during which time he drank his own urine, consumed his own waste, and even attempted suicide while taking refuge in an abandoned Muslim shrine. He was eventually discovered by nomads, and delivered to safety. Prosperi entered the race again four years later.

Source: Bbc.com

James Riley

Riley was an American sea captain in the 1800s whose ship crashed onto a Moroccan shore in the Saharan desert. Riley and his crew were captured by local slave traders —traders who were reportedly also cannibals. Riley told one of the traders that a very wealthy man in a nearby town would pay a large sum for his freedom. No such man actually existed, and the slave traders threatened to kill Riley should no man really exist. Meanwhile, Riley had sent a note to consuls in the nearby village, explaining his situation. Much to his luck one of those consuls received Riley’s note and bought his freedom. The slaves had to walk hundreds of miles, drinking their own urine along the way, to reach the town.

Source: Sfgate.com

William LaFever

William LaFever, a 28 year-old autistic man attempted to walk 90 miles from Boulder, Utah to Page, Arizona. On his journey, he ran out of food and was nowhere near civilization. He resorted to catching frogs to eat, and drinking from the river he’d luckily stayed close to. LaFever was lost for over two weeks when a helicopter crew found him. LaFever was too weak to even crawl when found, and had just been rolling in and out of the river to sleep or cool down.

Source: Cnn.com 

Nigerian Immigrants

In 2013 a team of human smugglers attempted to take a group of over 100 Nigerians to Algeria. Before they could make it, their trucks broke down several times. The first time, several people died due to lack of water or food, and the rest were forced to lay in the trucks with the corpses. A second time the trucks broke down, the smugglers abandoned the immigrants altogether, leaving them with no food or water. Ninety-two immigrants in total died. A young girl named Shafa attempted to walk through the desert with her mother and two sisters. Her entire family died, and she buried them herself. Shafa was alone, without food or water, for three days in the desert before a car discovered her and returned her to her village.

Source: Theguardian.com 

Robert Bogucki

Deciding he needed to connect with nature, Bogucki set off to bike hundreds of miles across Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. Fifteen days after leaving, his bike was found abandoned. Twelve days after police helicopter groups had been looking for him, the police gave up on him. Forty-three days after leaving, Bogucki was found by private trackers his parents had hired. He’d survived by eating flowers and drinking muddy water. Allegedly, Bugocki had always wanted to test his faith in God by staying alone 40 days in the wilderness, which is why the police called him irresponsible and asked him to pay for part of his search team’s efforts.

Source: Bbc.co.uk

 

Hank Morello

After taking a wrong turn one February night, Arizona resident Morello accidentally slid his car into a ravine. Morello had no water, no phone signal and his phone quickly died. Temperatures during that time of the year got to nearly freezing, so Morello remained in his car. He drank his windshield fluid, which contained Methanol, which is poisonous. After five days, some hikers found Morello in surprisingly good condition.

Source: Azcentral.com

Witold Glinski

Glinski believes his story inspired the book The Long Walk. Well, to be clear, he thinks it was stolen. Here’s Glinski’s story: after escaping a forced labor camp in Siberia during World War II, Glinski and several of his companions trekked across Russian forests, the Gobi Desert, Tibet and the Himalayas. The trip took 11 months, and four of Glinski’s friends died along the way. Those who survived did so by sucking moisture off of stones in the morning, and drinking their own sweat.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Ed Rosenthal

Rosenthal was on a hike he’d done several times before in Joshua Tree National Park in California. It was just a four-mile hike, but he decided to adventure down a new path and found himself lost. Rosenthal attempted to survive on drinking his own urine and sucking moisture from plants, but he gave up after a few days and began writing his will on his hat. Then he begged God for rain and to his surprise rain came. Rosenthal was spotted on the sixth day by a helicopter and taken to a hospital. He’s written a book of poems about his experience called The Desert Hat.

Source: Latimes.com

 

Noel St Malo Juul

Juul was a World War II flight mechanic. After a routine patrol from Kufra in the Libyan desert, Juul and his crew went on a joy ride with their extra fuel. They ran out of fuel and didn’t make note of what direction they were going. The crew sent out one plane that had fuel left to find help, but the plane had no luck. Meanwhile the crew on the ground drank all of their water, assuming help would come soon. Next, they sprayed themselves with their fire extinguishers to cool off, but ended up mostly injuring themselves. Within the next couple of days several people died. After eight days, a rescue crew found the men. This incident inspired the Air Force to include survival guides in all aircrafts.

Source: Fjexpeditions.com