Autistic man survives 3 week ordeal in Utah desert

Page 1 of 2 [ 23 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

redrobin62
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Apr 2012
Age: 61
Gender: Male
Posts: 13,009
Location: Seattle, WA

13 Jul 2012, 2:49 pm

AutisticMan Survives 3 Week Ordeal in Utah Desert

[Click on the line above to read the whole story.]

See? We're a pretty resilient bunch. When life throws you lemons, make lemonade.



AJCoyne
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 14 May 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 416
Location: England

13 Jul 2012, 3:30 pm

Nice to see an article that isn't Obama/Romney orientated! And a good one at that :D glad he survived.



Bunnynose
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 17 May 2012
Age: 67
Gender: Female
Posts: 200

13 Jul 2012, 5:33 pm

Amazing story!

More info in the Salt Lake Tribune. Here's an excerpt:

Quote:
LaFever told rescuers that he survived by eating frogs and roots while traveling down the Escalante River. The man was delirious and emaciated, but alive, after spending at least three weeks living in the wilderness.

When LaFever was rescued, Bronson said it appeared that the man was craving one thing even more than food — human contact.

"Deputy Gardner told me that he was so starved for human contact, when he walked up to him, he would not stop talking," Bronson said. "It was hard work to get him to stop talking long enough to get him to eat something."



LennytheWicked
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Oct 2011
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Posts: 545

14 Jul 2012, 10:49 am

I'm surprised they haven't interviewed the guy himself.

I'm kind of annoyed that they don't; clearly if he could talk to people when they picked him up he's verbal. :I

And this sentence in a different article bothers me:

Quote:
Gardner's training in searching for people with autism taught him they are naturally drawn to water, so the helicopter search focused on the Escalante River, the department said.


UH...people who get LOST IN A FREAKING DESERT are typically drawn to water if there IS any.



Fogman
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Age: 57
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,986
Location: Frå Nord Dakota til Vermont

14 Jul 2012, 11:23 am

LennytheWicked wrote:
I'm surprised they haven't interviewed the guy himself.

I'm kind of annoyed that they don't; clearly if he could talk to people when they picked him up he's verbal. :I

And this sentence in a different article bothers me:

Quote:
Gardner's training in searching for people with autism taught him they are naturally drawn to water, so the helicopter search focused on the Escalante River, the department said.


UH...people who get LOST IN A FREAKING DESERT are typically drawn to water if there IS any.


Seattle Times wrote:
The man has spent a lot of time backpacking in the Colorado mountains and "never had any problems at all," John LaFever said. Utah's twisting, arid canyons turned out to be "totally different."


Since it appears that he is experienced with mountain survival, it appears that he knew one thing that is true for all survival when you are lost, --namely that if you follow a watercourse, you will eventually come across human habitation. This is especially true in the desert.


_________________
When There's No There to get to, I'm so There!


LennytheWicked
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Oct 2011
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Posts: 545

14 Jul 2012, 7:09 pm

Fogman wrote:
Since it appears that he is experienced with mountain survival, it appears that he knew one thing that is true for all survival when you are lost, --namely that if you follow a watercourse, you will eventually come across human habitation. This is especially true in the desert.


I know. I was really bothered by the fact that they didn't give the guy credit for doing as well as he did. Utah's quite a barren state and they seem to be giving the credit to the policeman who found him rather than W. LaFever for actually surviving as long as he did in an unfamiliar [and very inhospitable] environment.



Raptor
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Mar 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 12,997
Location: Southeast U.S.A.

14 Jul 2012, 9:58 pm

An interview of him would have been interesting but I couldn't even find one on youtube....


_________________
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
- Thomas Jefferson


Roxas_XIII
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jan 2007
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,217
Location: Laramie, WY

14 Jul 2012, 10:41 pm

I'm going camping in Utah next weekend, does he have any tips?


_________________
"Yeah, so this one time, I tried playing poker with tarot cards... got a full house, and about four people died." ~ Unknown comedian

Happy New Year from WP's resident fortune-teller! May the cards be ever in your favor.


Lonermutant
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Dec 2005
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,724
Location: Namsos, Norway

15 Jul 2012, 3:41 am

redrobin62 wrote:
AutisticMan Survives 3 Week Ordeal in Utah Desert

[Click on the line above to read the whole story.]

See? We're a pretty resilient bunch. When life throws you lemons, make lemonade.



Seems as if he did this in order to get away from his family for a while.



aspi-rant
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Sep 2008
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,448
Location: denmark

15 Jul 2012, 3:48 am

Lonermutant wrote:
redrobin62 wrote:
AutisticMan Survives 3 Week Ordeal in Utah Desert

[Click on the line above to read the whole story.]

See? We're a pretty resilient bunch. When life throws you lemons, make lemonade.



Seems as if he did this in order to get away from his family for a while.


no.

he went for a 120 km walk, because his father would send money there…

his father wasn't clever enough to understand that when his son told him he was run out of money… being autistic this means: being out of money.

how was he supposed to travel 120 km to get his fathers money, without a dime??????

so he and his dog went by foot. no other option.

stupid father.



LennytheWicked
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Oct 2011
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Posts: 545

15 Jul 2012, 5:33 am

Roxas_XIII wrote:
I'm going camping in Utah next weekend, does he have any tips?

No, no one talked to him about the experience. They've been titling articles "autistic man lives on roots and frogs" based off of one thing he said when they met him.

I'm kind of irritated by this.



hanyo
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Sep 2011
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,302

15 Jul 2012, 6:48 am

aspi-rant wrote:
no.

he went for a 120 km walk, because his father would send money there…

his father wasn't clever enough to understand that when his son told him he was run out of money… being autistic this means: being out of money.

how was he supposed to travel 120 km to get his fathers money, without a dime??????

so he and his dog went by foot. no other option.

stupid father.


From the article:

"Unbeknownst to his father, William LaFever apparently decided to hike down the Escalante River and then hitch a boat ride along Lake Powell to Page, rather than try to catch a ride, the sheriff's department said."

What did they expect him to do, hitchhike?

He had no money and it's possible he didn't have any friends to drive him there or none that would be willing to.

If that was me I wouldn't have anyone to take me to a different town never mind another state.



howzat
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Aug 2007
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,802
Location: Hornsey North London

15 Jul 2012, 2:16 pm

I read this and found it quite interesting.



Lonermutant
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Dec 2005
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,724
Location: Namsos, Norway

16 Jul 2012, 7:51 am

I have to say that I agree with the people commenting on this CNN article who complains that he doesn't have a job:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/13/us/utah-d ... ?hpt=us_c1



hanyo
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Sep 2011
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,302

16 Jul 2012, 8:21 am

I find the hateful and ignorant comments on that blog depressing and it reminds me why I stay at home and barely ever socialize.



LadybugS
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 6 Jul 2012
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 376
Location: Kentucky USA

16 Jul 2012, 10:57 am

Wow! I am so glad that he survived, poor man! :(


_________________
SpazzDog's girl <3

"I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough... God knows we're worth it"