An Alaska man survived on nothing but frozen cans of Coors Light for three days when his car got stuck in a snowdrift in a remote part of the state.
Clifton Vial, 52, found himself stranded in his Toyota Tacoma more than 40 miles outside the city of Nome on Nov. 28, with no cell phone service, limited layers for warmth and no food.
"I made an attempt at digging myself out and realized how badly I was stuck," said Vial, who was only wearing tennis shoes, jeans and a cheap jacket.
“I would have been frost-bit before I ever got the thing out of there."
Temperatures fluctuated from minus 12 to minus 17, according to the National Weather Service.
Vial scoured his car for food and found only a few cans of Coors Light, which were frozen solid.
“I cut the lids off and dug it out with a knife,” he told the Anchorage Daily News.
Vial used a fleece sleeping bag liner to stay warm and wrapped a bath towel around his feet and another over his knees and thighs.
He stuffed rags in his clothes and jammed tissue paper around his feet.
He occasionally turned on the truck to use the heater and listen to the radio but when the low-gas light came on, he limited himself to once a day.
"I felt really p----- at myself," Vial told the Anchorage Daily News.
“When I was just sitting there in my coat in the sleeping bag liner, I would pull my arms inside my T-shirt to try and utilize my body heat as much as I could," he added.
“That worked fine for some time, as far as keeping my torso warm and my arms. But my legs and feet where getting pretty cold."
When he failed to show up for his operator mechanic job at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 29, alarm bells were raised.
"He's a very punctual employee," his boss, John Handeland, said.
“By 4 o'clock, we figured something was wrong.”
Vial’s coworkers began to patrol the town, and the police, fire department and troopers were mobilized the following day, dispatching teams on the ground and in planes and helicopters.
Vial’s 60-hour ordeal ended Thursday morning when rescuers finally found him.
The first thing they gave him was a Snickers bar and orange soda.
When he got on the scale, he had lost 16 pounds
but was otherwise healthy.
“I shouldn't have been out there by myself unprepared for what I knew was possible,” he said.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
This post is dedicated to Go Figure
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3 comments:
Cedar: Ha! Not sure what to think of this dedication. Are you saying I am a Coors Light fan? (Actually that is the favorite of Sirius, our dog, I have gravitated to Keystone Ice what with the economy and all) Are you saying I am the person that you know to become stranded in such a situation? (Well yeah, whenever I am heading out on an adventure everyone, even strangers, tell me 'be careful')
Are you reminding me of the ONE time that the search and rescue had to haul me out of the mountains in the dark with a broken leg? (True)
Actually, I was just thinking of your outings and your affinity for beer, and how beer was probably one of your life saving items when you are out in the wilderness.
Cedar: "Affinity" now that is a big city word if I ever saw one. Yu wuldnt have hert that in our school! Ha! As to the beer. "Correct amundo!"
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