SukritiHospitalized
Austin was admitted to the Blount Memorial Hospital and was discharged the next day. Doctors were amused to see how this teen managed to survive for so long. The next day when he spoke to people, he told the disturbing reality to the people.
In The Boys Words
“I couldn’t find him, I couldn’t find any sign of him or anything like that, so from that point on, I knew that I was alone. My first instinct was to get to higher ground and see if I could see surrounding areas, so I went to the right of me and climbed to the top of the mountain,” recalled Austin. But what happened next?
Not Scared At All
“I wasn’t scared or anything. I just knew that I had been separated and I needed to do something about it,” said the 18-year-old boy whose courage was admired by the entire town. But the guy had a surprising truth to be shared.
Mother’s Nightmare
“I prayed literally every night and day and it helped me drive forward,” said his mother. It is every mother’s nightmare that something bad happens to her kids. And Brooke suffered that worst reality for 11 days. Austin tried calling his mother three times from the top of a ridge but the call failed every time.
Keep It Cool
“The main thing was just keeping my calm, keep my cool, just keep moving. It’s just instinct that came out. It felt like the right thing to do, and I needed to do it. It always kept me calm. I was never worried, discouraged, nothing like that,” recalled Austin. The family thanked the rescuers who noticed him waving on the riverside.
Living On Water
“I felt hungry the first couple of days and after that, the hunger just kind of went away,” remembered the boy. He lost more than 20 pounds of weight in 11 days. All he lived on was water and it was the biggest reason that saved his life.