A FATAL FALL
Surviving by eating berries and bees: the story of Matthew Matheny
by Kyt Lyn Walken
August 9, 2018.
Matthew Matheny, 40, borrows a friend’s car and heads for the famous Mount St. Helen, a volcano in Washington State.
Perhaps some of us remember him for having erupted between March 20 and May 18, 1980.
It must be a simple excursion, because Matthew, although he has been a boyscout for years, wears a t shirt and short pants. And she wears flip flops, one of the most loved footwear by Americans (and I confirm it from personal experience). In short, a simple walk, a brief escape from everyday life in one of the most suggestive scenarios in North America.
The Blue Lake Trail is his destination, he also reported to his friend. But Matthew will be found six days later somewhere else.
Something has certainly gone wrong. Yes, but what?
This is an ordinary survival story. And, as in the others, food acts as a common thread.
First of all, the area: Matthew, as he will later report to the media, doesn’t know much about it. And it has no map, no map, no compass and no GPS with it. The Blue Lake Trail looks like a trail suitable for everyone, even one who wears flip flops. The scenery is certainly breathtaking: very high Douglas Firs (pines among the most common in that area) surround a lake of an almost unnatural calm.
Matthew faithfully follows the signs that indicate the path, then something goes wrong.
It no longer finds precise indications, and the path becomes narrower and narrower, until it is almost non-existent. But the ex boy scout has confidence and continues, certain that, sooner or later, he will cross a path much more beaten than the one he is going through, which has now become rock – the remains of the volcanic eruption of 1980.
Almost blindly and without any geographical knowledge, Matthew struggles to pay attention to both the terrain and any reference points.
In a steep point, in fact, he loses its balance, falls and the flip flops break completely.
It is now late, the phone is without charge and he is definitely in a bad situation. Moreover barefoot.
Contacted by parents and friends, the local Search and Rescue group mobilizes, and does so without wasting time and begging for resources: 30 rescuers, search dogs, a drone and helicopters. rush to look for him.
And they do it non-stop for six days.
Meanwhile Matthew continues to walk, exhausted, dehydrated and devoid of any knowledge.
The hope of salvation hangs by a thread, and hunger first devours his brain and then his stomach.
Thanks to his consolidated knowledge of boy scouts, he will later say, he is able to recognize edible berries – sorry but I was unable to find which ones, in no news report, are mentioned! – and feeds on it.
And then there are the bees.
Imagine being thirty, forty, fifty times stung by bees. Matthew lets them get close to him, even prick him, and then with a sudden gesture he kills and eats them.
Rescuers find him on the seventh day, dehydrated but “not so bad” (I quote verbatim). He tells everyone that previous skills have saved him, probably even those he had forgotten at home, such as suitable clothing, food, additional water and so on. In short, a story of ordinary survival.
AFTERFACE: Bivo is a product designed specifically to meet your needs in terms of weight and protein intake: the right companion to have with you when a simple walk can hide unexpected events.
Click on the button below if you want to try Bivo and discover all the current promotions. By entering the discount code “kytwalken” you will be entitled to 10% discount in the shop.
