Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies

KuRUpTD

KuRUpTD

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Aug 5, 2008
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They point out that a series of poor decisions she made were possibly due to her going without the medication she takes for lupus and other medical conditions.

She was also barefoot when she was found ... I wonder if she's been watching too much of Cody Lundin :eek:

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/artic...y-mountain-forest-with-no-food-shoes/19527097

A Colorado woman who took a day trip to the Rocky Mountains to clear her head ended up spending 11 days in the wilderness with no food, medicine or shoes.

Kelly Guzman, 45, of Denver was expected to be released from a hospital today after treatment for frostbite and hypothermia. When found by searchers Sunday in the Arapahoe National Forest, she was barefoot and wearing only shorts and a fleece top.

Guzman is an avid outdoorswoman who often hikes alone, including tackling some of Colorado's 14ers -- mountains that reach above 14,000 feet in elevation, her husband, Tom Ashford, told AOL News.
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To be fair she uses marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Guzman's bad luck began on June 8, when she was cited for driving under the influence of drugs. Ashford said his wife, who uses medical marijuana, retrieved her vehicle the next day, then said she wanted to go away to clear her head.
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Lucky girl..... or unlucky, depending on how you look at it.

I would suspect she had some psychological problems to boot.

Stay close to the CAR!!!!!!!!!


Rick
 
Some people aren't even prepaired for a day hike. Last year late summer earliy fall went hiking/rock scrambling and my bro-inlaw and I saw people hiking in flipflops. Weather wasn't bad but there were people asking if we had extra water because they didn't bring any.
 
Today when I drove by a short hike (4 miles) there were people going in with nothing at all. Normally I wouldn't look twice at that, as the location there is tons of people going. However, today it was 90 degrees at the time with 85% humidity. I was a little shocked with so many people going for it with no water at all.

At least she is OK, but I really hope she has learned something after that.
 
Yeah...when you are lost, sometimes staying put is the best idea. Would have been better to build a shelter around the car, use items in the car to build a fire (if possible).
Don't get yourself wet in cold temperatures, bad medicine for hypothermia.
People rarely think about this kind of thing...you can be just a few miles out, something unexpected occurs, and now you are in a survival situation.

-Freq
 
freq18hz said:
you can be just a few miles out, something unexpected occurs, and now you are in a survival situation.
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That's the meat of the issue. It looks like she had some idea of what to do but leaving the car could've been deadly.

When Guzman abandoned the vehicle, she left a reflective blanket and a red rain poncho weighted to the roof of the car to attract attention. She had also tried to make some fires in the area, and left a "V" of sticks, likely indicating the direction she was intending to head, Johnson said. She didn't have a cell phone with her.
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powernoodle said:
According to the story, "Guzman's bad luck began on June 8, when she was cited for driving under the influence of drugs."

One can fill in the blanks.
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So you're going to sit here and trash a woman with a horrifying, painful disease for taking her medicine, after she nearly died? Classy.
 
I am glad she was rescued but the shoes thing confuses me. Maybe the marijuana had some effect if she was using during this time or maybe she has some psychological issues also. She is fortunate that she is alive.
 
dberry said:
I am glad she was rescued but the shoes thing confuses me. Maybe the marijuana had some effect if she was using during this time or maybe she has some psychological issues also. She is fortunate that she is alive.
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The article made it sound like she was extra disoriented because she didn't have her medicines for her various health problems. Many people with lupus suffer cognitive problems - I wouldn't call them psychological, so much as a breakdown in the ability to process information. While we don't know much from the bits of information provided in the news article, it sounds like this woman at least attempted to do many things right, despite the disorientation and desperation caused by her illness and lack of supplies, including medication.

Attempting to build fire, trying to signal from the roof of her car, arranging sticks to point the direction she went - these are all solid survival techniques that many folks wouldn't think to try. The article also mentioned that she was an active outdoors person, which is commendable no matter what, but especially when suffering from a condition like lupus. Fortunate? Yes, but I wouldn't count out her physical conditioning, either, to give her the chance to overcome the disadvantages she was stuck with.



Of course, it's easier to play armchair quarterback and criticize her, rather than pointing out the things that she DID try to do right, and admiring her for overcoming the hand life has dealt her.
 
that woman is very lucky! sure she made a couple of bad decisions, but she made some great decisions also. And with how little the article says, we are unable to come to any conclusions about what happened.
 
I can't help but think this lady had some sort of psychological problems??

I also can't imagine somebody being stoned and making such bad decisions. If anything it would make you more paranoid.

My guess is either a manic episode or some sort of psychotic break or she took some sort of psychedelic drug and got off on it too much.

I don't know if any of you ever read the book, but there is a book Yoga Youth and Reincarnation that was written in the early 60's that profiled an early yoga teacher Marcia Moore.

Anyway later on she got involved in Ketamine, which is an animal tranquilizer but that had psychedelic effects. She left home for a walk and her body was found in a swamp near her home a few years later. They speculate that she went out and did a bunch of ketamine and communed with nature and froze to death when the Ketamine rendered her unable to walk or navigate.

Reading a lot into the story but the whole scenario sort of reminded me of the Marcia Moore tragedy.

Sounds like this lady came to her senses later on though and that's what saved her
 
Again with the psychological problems speculation - WTF is with you people? The woman was suffering from a debilitating disease, which can cause many horrible side effects, and the medications for treating that disease can also have many side effects.

Is it somehow easier to just say "she must have been nuts" or accuse her of being a drug addict than to admit that her behavior might have been caused by a legitimate medical condition or the medicine (or lack thereof) for treatment of that condition? Is it really so much more comforting to you to think "it must all be in her head" than to think it's a physical, biological, or chemical issue?
 
KEmSAT-Survival said:
....Or we could all just form conclusions on limited evidence and let the lobbing of verbal feces begin.
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That is usually how these sort of threads go..

I'll just say, Great job by the SAR team:thumbup: The lady is lucky to be alive.
 
MustardMan said:
Again with the psychological problems speculation - WTF is with you people? The woman was suffering from a debilitating disease, which can cause many horrible side effects, and the medications for treating that disease can also have many side effects.

Is it somehow easier to just say "she must have been nuts" or accuse her of being a drug addict than to admit that her behavior might have been caused by a legitimate medical condition or the medicine (or lack thereof) for treatment of that condition? Is it really so much more comforting to you to think "it must all be in her head" than to think it's a physical, biological, or chemical issue?
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NO. However I know a lot of people with lupus. Also I've handled hundreds of claims with lupus and while I think it could cloud your thinking I'm not sure it would be responsible for that level of confusion and misjudgement. Now maybe I'm WRONG:thumbup:;):D
 
Chill MustardMan... please.

You speak as though you have first hand knowledge of all the medical problems she was experiencing. We know she had Lupus... that's it. Whether medically induced or not... it is also evident that she was not thinking clearly enough to remember why she had no shoes. Some people speculate that psychological problems may have been in the mix too... Not uncommon for folks trying to cope with a debilitating disease.

Lets not snap at eachother here.

I for one think it was an alien abduction...... friggin aliens suck.

Rick
 
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