64 year old NC man with broken leg survives 4 days in Utah desert

Via Survival

A North Carolina man crawled four days across the Utah desert after breaking his leg on a solo hike, inspired by a Hollywood movie about a man who cut off his own arm to save himself after being trapped by a boulder in the same canyon.

Amos Wayne Richards, 64, of Concord, N.C., is now recovering at home. He said he was inspired to hike Little Blue John Canyon after he saw the Oscar-nominated movie "127 Hours" but fell 10 feet during his trek on Sept. 8.

Canyonlands National Park rangers found Richards four days later. Along with the leg injury, he dislocated his shoulder but was able to work it back into place.

"It took me about 3 or 4 minutes to work my shoulder and get it back in place, and once I got it back in place, I stood up and realized my ankle hurt a little bit," Richards told WBTV in Charlotte last week after his story started getting the attention of national TV news networks.

Without cellphone service and only two protein bars to eat, Richards began crawling back to his car across the rocky terrain. He filled his water bottles with rain as he painstakingly retraced his steps, eventually dragging himself almost five miles.

MORE