Posted on 06/22/2005 9:39:08 AM PDT by Skylus
KAMAS, Utah Jun 22, 2005 — The 11-year-old boy who wandered lost for four days in a mountain wilderness before rescuers found him was released from a hospital early Wednesday, a spokeswoman said.
Brennan Hawkins was found in good condition Tuesday by a 43-year-old house painter on an ATV who was out looking on his own, miles outside of active search grids.
Brennan left Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City not long after midnight, said Bonnie Midget, a hospital spokeswoman. Doctors had said they wanted to keep him at least overnight for tests, said Dr. Ed Clark, the hospital's medical director.
The boy apparently eluded thousands of searchers by defying conventional wisdom: He went up instead of down.
Sheriff Dave Edmunds had said Brennan would have been more likely to head down a river valley from a 530-acre Boy Scout camp in the Uinta mountains.
"Typically children walk downhill, along the least path of resistance," he said. That possibility raised particular fears because the East Fork of the Bear River, which is normally ankle-deep, was swollen by heavy mountain snow melt.
However, Brennan had hiked some 600 feet higher and more than five miles into the mountains to the spot where searcher Forrest Nunley found him before noon Tuesday.
"I turned a corner and there was a kid standing in the middle of the trail. He was all muddy and wet," from walking over wet ground, said Nunley, who dialed 911 on his cell phone and said he was lucky to find a signal.
"People say that the heavens are closed and God no longer answers prayers. We are here to unequivocally tell you that the heavens are not closed, prayers are answered and children come home," said Brennan's mother, Jody Hawkins.
The boy had seen some searchers on horseback but avoided them because he was scared, Nunley said. "He was a little delirious. I sat him down and gave him a little food."
After downing bottles of water and eating all the granola bars carried by a group of volunteer searchers, the boy asked to play a video game on one rescuer's cell phone, the sheriff said.
Unreal.
Guess that shyness wore off.
He was obviously suffering from the video game DT's to want to play such a primitive game.
I'm a firm believer in walkie talkies when people are in the woods. I bought several units at $10 each. I hope the scouts think of this. I know the terrain effects its' use but we have had darn good luck on our 100 acres of tough woods and its' an EXTRA way of keeping tabs on the grandchildren. We always tests the abilities of the user, too.
The kid has ADS...based on all the comments that have been said. He doesn't totally focus on the real world around him...most 11-year old's would have grasped not to wonder too far...or to have taken the downward trail from the camp (he took the uphill route which even the experts couldn't believe).
Brennan had no food or water during those four days in the wilderness. It's amazing that he was even found in an unbelievably good and healthy condition even with all of the wild animals crawling about the area.
It is a blessing that he was found alive. People need to be more aware of how to survive outdoors. I recently purchased a DVD about outdoor survival and it is really great. The guy explains how to stay safe and warm and the best ways to get "unlost" or found. The name of the DVD is Wilderness Bob's Outdoor Survival Guide, you can buy it online at:
http://www.ibiny.com/wildernessbob.html
It just made me wonder if he took off from camp because there were no video games.
Yep. Strong kid.
It is just too bad that the other twelve year old (missing since last year) still has not been found, even though the two locations of these two separate boy scouts where Brennan was found and the twelve year old was last seen are very close by.
Great idea!
We have walkie-talkies, but the kids always leave them on and run the batteries down :-).
When I read that he said that he wasn't scared I knew he was either lying (quite possible) or did not fully realize the seriousness of his situation.
My sense is that the boy isn't quite hitting all cylinders. He is still a cub scout at age 11.
Happy news BTTT!
Just thought you would all like to know how the oh so intelligent progressive people at DU are reacting to this story. Warning: Have your blood pressure medication close at hand
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3920647
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3920009
11 (6th grade) is the very youngest a boy can be a Boy Scout. With many boys starting kindergarten later, it wouldn't surprise me to find a good number who were second-year Webelos at 11.
However, that doesn't mean this boy isn't disabled in some way.
The parents said Brennan had seen people searching for him on horse and ATV, but avoided them because of what he had been taught. "He stayed on the trail, he avoided strangers," Jody Hawkins said. "His biggest fear, he told me, was that someone would steal him." They said they hadn't talked to Brennan and his four siblings about what they should do about strangers if they were lost. "This may have come to a faster conclusion had we discussed that," Toby Hawkins said.
This is a very important point, which I hadn't thought of at all. It's sad that a child would be so frightened of kidnappers that he'd avoid people searching for him!
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