Scout recovering from dehydration
GREENSBORO - The 12-year-old Boy Scout rescued after spending four days lost in the rugged North Carolina mountains remained hospitalized Wednesday, recovering from severe dehydration and exposure to cold.
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Michael Auberry had lost feeling in his fingers and toes by the time rescue workers found him Tuesday morning. But his father, who said his son was experiencing „frost nip”, said feeling was returning to his son’s fingers and doctors expected the same for his toes.
Kent Auberry said his son was even cracking a few jokes. „Just the difference between yesterday and today, Michael is coming back to us”, Auberry said. „This was a pretty traumatic experience for him. He felt alone as he could feel, and thought: I have screwed up.”
Michael wandered away from his campsite on Saturday, setting off an intensive search involving dogs, heat-seeking aircraft and dozens of park rangers and volunteers. His fellow Scouts thought he had just gone to clean his mess kit after eating, but they grew worried as the time wore on.
Michael was found Tuesday by a search dog named Gandalf, who caught the boy’s scent about a mile from the Scout troop’s camp site. Riding down the mountain in an ambulance with his parents, the boy learned his 8-year-old sister had tracked the search and rescue effort for her older brother by watching television news reports.
Upset some of his friends were not on the camping trip, Michael was apparently homesick and looking for a road so he could hitchhike home, Auberry said. But his family hasn’t pressed him for more details just yet on why he went into the woods with nothing but his mess kit and some potato chips.
The boy was recovering at a hospital in Greensboro, and it wasn’t clear how soon he would be released. Meanwhile Wednesday, a celebration service was held at the family’s church for friends who prayed and hoped for his safe return.
His father said that Michael lost his hat and glasses during his time in the woods, but managed to hang on to his two jackets - something he joked was an accomplishment for his son. „On a regular school day, he doesn’t do that”, he said. (AP)
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