76 Year old woman found alive after 2 weeks

[Normark]

Hey Guys..

I just seen this....

Link

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070907/ap_on_re_us/missing_woman_4



Woman, 76, found after 2 weeks in wild



Fri Sep 7, 12:26 AM ET


A 76-year-old woman was found alive in the mountains Thursday, nearly two
weeks after she disappeared while on a hunting trip with her husband,
authorities said.
Ora Doris Anderson had suffered a hip injury and was dehydrated, but she was
conscious and alert, the Baker County Sheriff's Office said. A helicopter
team went to the scene to extricate her from the rugged terrain, and she was to
be airlifted to a Baker City hospital.
George Winn, the CEO of St. Elizabeth Health Services, said Anderson was in
critical, but stable condition and was being admitted to the intensive care
unit.
Authorities had largely given up hope of finding Anderson, who was lightly
dressed in an area where temperatures had tipped into the 30s over the past two
weeks. About 70 volunteers a day combed the Wallowa Mountain of Eastern
Oregon until the search was scaled back in late August.
Anderson, who goes by Doris, had last been seen Aug. 24 in the Eagle Creek
area, where she had gone bow hunting with her 74-year-old husband, Harold.
The Andersons had driven into the rugged mountains and canyons in a Chevy
Tahoe pulling a utility trailer. The vehicle got stuck, and Harold Anderson
broke his wrist while unloading an all-terrain vehicle from the trailer.
The couple tried to walk to a U.S. Forest Service road for help but became
exhausted. Harold Anderson said his wife headed back for the vehicle. A hunting
party later found a disoriented Harold Anderson, but there was no sign of
his wife.
A Baker County deputy and an Oregon State Police trooper found his wife
around 2 p.m. Thursday in an area that had already been searched.
Iris Anderson, 71, who is married to Harold's brother, Melvin, credited Ora
Doris Anderson's survival to prayer and Anderson's healthy lifestyle.
"How she managed to live for two weeks at the bottom of canyon, I don't
know," Anderson said.

ttyle

Eric
O/ST

 

[Dr. Mudd]

I read that about an hour ago, too. It's nice to be reminded that us old codgers can still be tough sometimes, too.

 

[jackknife]

I suspect that there is more to this than the surface story. If one reads carefully there is some stuff between the lines. They were going hunting. This sugests outdoors experiance. They had ATV's, same sugestion. I think if one would delve into the background of Doris, they would find that in her earlier life she and hubby were outdoors people, not city slickers unacustomed to anything but a strol in the park.

Or maybe at our age Dr. Mudd, we've learned a few things and have the patience to hunker down and wait in good manor while making do with whats around.

Wasn't it a 76 year old granny who did a through hike the lengh of the Appalation Trail with a shower curtian for shelter and a cotton sack with some food for suppplies?

 

[Dr. Mudd]

Jackknife, you're right. That old lady and her hubby were not "babes in the woods." And, for whatever reason (injury?), just hunkering down where you can make the best of what's handy and waiting to be found is the best way for most folks -- especially kids -- to survive an outdoors problem. Naturally, having on your person a small knife of some kind, a way to make fire, and a mirror and a whistle for signaling to searchers is very valuable, as is some proper clothing, maybe including a big trash bag rolled up tight in your pocket to keep you dry and warm.

By the way, and speaking of survival, I hope I have my bleeding problem fixed now. Last time I went to the hospital -- AGAIN -- it was about 10 days ago. I packed a bag and went prepared to stay for the duration. I had surgery on my face and nose a few days ago after getting my heart "tuned up" some, and they clamped off an artery deep down between the corner of one eye and the bridge of my nose, as well as some smaller arteries up inside my nose. Yeah, it hurts a little, but it's not bad. :thumbup:

 

[sasha]

JackKnife are you saying that with all of our hitech stuff and fancy knifes. 76 year grandma done the same thing using everyday pack lol.. Well i would belive it in a heart beat. I bet she had a old kitchen knife too. Would love to read her story if you got any info.

Sasha

 

[Torm]

By the way, and speaking of survival, I hope I have my bleeding problem fixed now. Last time I went to the hospital -- AGAIN -- it was about 10 days ago. I packed a bag and went prepared to stay for the duration. I had surgery on my face and nose a few days ago after getting my heart "tuned up" some, and they clamped off an artery deep down between the corner of one eye and the bridge of my nose, as well as some smaller arteries up inside my nose. Yeah, it hurts a little, but it's not bad. :thumbup:

Best wishes on getting well soon.

 

[Salamander42]

JackKnife are you saying that with all of our hitech stuff and fancy knifes. 76 year grandma done the same thing using everyday pack lol.. Well i would belive it in a heart beat. I bet she had a old kitchen knife too. Would love to read her story if you got any info.

Sasha

DaleW just mentioned her in another thread yesterday and provided a link to the Wikipedia article on her:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood

A great story. I'll have to see if I can find any more info on her sometime.

 

[sasha]

Damn she had 11 kids and used a shoulder bag... Wish she was on this forum, i sure would have have lots of Q for her. I can just see her saying sonny would you go and pick that knife in the second drawer from the top. There is some food in the drawer on the top. Stop thinking about it just do it.... that large chisle you call a knife leave it home you can play with it when you get back. Stop dragging your feet you move slow. Do you need help to carry your fancy stuff???
Like it was said before the more you know the less you need. She would have been a very intresting person on that im sure.

Sasha

 

[hafetysazard]

My dad told me a story about this happening here in Northwestern Ontario before I was born. Some old lady, probably in her 80s went mushroom picking and got lost. They went looking for her and found her alive and well. She was smart enough to build herself a shelter, made a mattress out of cedar bows or something. Basic survival stuff. It's kind of a scary thought that most people these days have absolutely no basic survival knowledge. Props to old people!

 

[jackknife]

My dad told me a story about this happening here in Northwestern Ontario before I was born. Some old lady, probably in her 80s went mushroom picking and got lost. They went looking for her and found her alive and well. She was smart enough to build herself a shelter, made a mattress out of cedar bows or something. Basic survival stuff. It's kind of a scary thought that most people these days have absolutely no basic survival knowledge. Props to old people!

I don't know if its props to old people or not, but as an "older" person I can tell you that in some weird ways that we are more suited for survival than some of the the younger folks.

I don't know or can explain it the right way, but I noticed that after the age of 60, we just don't seem to need as much food or sleep as young people. My better half, Karen, and myself now find ourselves ordering from the senior menue with smaller portions, and sometimes we split that! I used to be one of those guys who could make a all you can eat buffet loose money, but no more. Where I used to down a 12 inch sub with a bag of chips and a large soda, now Karen and I split a 6 inch, no chips and a small drink. It has something to do with the slowing down of the metabolisim, (like maybe getting ready to stop soon?), but even when Karen and I go for all afternoon walks in the woods, we seldom need much of a dinner. I'll grill up a small steak which we share, one baked potato we each have a half of, and a couple glasses of wine.

And something else happens, we finally learn patience. We are all to aware of how we are not up to really great physical challenges, so we try to just sit down for a bit and think about things. if it looks like it may be too hard to climb out of a canyon, then we'll just make a shelter if there is a water source, and make ourselves comfortable. We will try to refrain from brash action that may make things worse. Its like in a weird way, now that our bodies are letting us down, we finally get some smarts that may let us plot and plan a little better.

And living on a fixed income social security was the best thing for my gear whore attitude. Now I finally realize that all that high priced junk does not make a differnence at all. its just "stuff". Grandma Gatewood did not have or care about more than simple things. I think we tend to get too carried away with the gear thing. Just think about it for a moment, a granny in sneakers walked the A.T. with a canvas bag with some groceries in it and a shower curtain to roll up in for shelter. Kind of makes some of the over prepared seem sort of wussy. But as she saw it, she did'nt need anything else. Old John Muir was the same way. He hiked and explored all over the Sierra Nevada's with a small pack that had barely what you guys would consider a day pack. He wore regular shoes, lived off oatmeal he cooked in a small pot, had a blanket and canteen and a pocket knife. When he showed Teddy Roosavelt around trying to influence him to make it part of the new park system, Roosevelt was amazed at how little he carried, and tried to do likewise. He later told Muir that he was a hero.

There's a valuable lesson in Granny Gatewood if we pay attention. Or maybe its something we don't learn till we're "older".

 

[nodh]

Well, people are to spoiled today. They have mobile phones, GPS, Medevac and such and that works great when on the highway but when in bad weather, the mobile is out of battery and the GPS only shows the road to the coolest pub in town you are toast.

One other thing is all these security scares and the Rambofication. If you were to carry a good folder or a good knife people will harass you everywhere. There is a sami saying that goes "a man without a knife is a naked man". It is so easy to have a good 3" knife and a firesteel in your jacket pocket. Some companies even supply the firesteel sewn in from the factory.
People rely too much on technology today. If people were to just stop and think back on the old days. I think a good knife and a firesteel and a whistle is a good way of saying that you care for a person.
There is not much training needed to start a fire with a firestell but the result is so much rewarding