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84-year-old survives desert ditch ordeal
Source: Agencies |
February 17, 2011, Thursday
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HENRY Morello prayed to Saint Anthony, the patron of lost causes. But as the 84-year-old spent a fifth night stuck in a ditch in the Arizona desert, he started to lose hope.
"My phone went dead, my battery went dead, and I went dead," Morello said.
But Morello lived to tell his tale on Tuesday at a Phoenix hospital, where the diabetic man was admitted in good condition despite drinking windshield wiper fluid.
He didn't have water, Morello said, so he broke open the wiper fluid container with a rock and filtered it with a napkin to try to make it safe.
Morello said he made a wrong turn while driving home last Monday from the Phoenix suburb of Cave Creek and ended up stuck in the desert north of the city, near the state's major north-south road for Grand Canyon-bound travelers.
Morello said he became stranded when - realizing he took a wrong turn - he made a U-turn and wound up in a ditch. He tried to crawl out of the car, but did not get far and returned.
He ripped a chrome piece from his car and put it on the roof, hoping someone would see the reflection.
A pack of hikers found him on Saturday morning. He heard a knock on a window from a hiker, and suddenly his long, painful ordeal was over.
"I just kissed him," Morello said of the hiker. "He looked like an angel to me."
Doctors at John C. Lincoln Hospital said he arrived in good condition considering what he had been through. Morello will remain there for a few days while he is treated for kidney damage.
Morello said he learned another lesson from his adventure: "I'll never drive without water."
"My phone went dead, my battery went dead, and I went dead," Morello said.
But Morello lived to tell his tale on Tuesday at a Phoenix hospital, where the diabetic man was admitted in good condition despite drinking windshield wiper fluid.
He didn't have water, Morello said, so he broke open the wiper fluid container with a rock and filtered it with a napkin to try to make it safe.
Morello said he made a wrong turn while driving home last Monday from the Phoenix suburb of Cave Creek and ended up stuck in the desert north of the city, near the state's major north-south road for Grand Canyon-bound travelers.
Morello said he became stranded when - realizing he took a wrong turn - he made a U-turn and wound up in a ditch. He tried to crawl out of the car, but did not get far and returned.
He ripped a chrome piece from his car and put it on the roof, hoping someone would see the reflection.
A pack of hikers found him on Saturday morning. He heard a knock on a window from a hiker, and suddenly his long, painful ordeal was over.
"I just kissed him," Morello said of the hiker. "He looked like an angel to me."
Doctors at John C. Lincoln Hospital said he arrived in good condition considering what he had been through. Morello will remain there for a few days while he is treated for kidney damage.
Morello said he learned another lesson from his adventure: "I'll never drive without water."
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