February 11, 2009 3:41 PM
- Text
Father Lost In Snowy Mountains Kept Faith
(CBS/AP)
A man who was lost in the mountains along with his three children for three days during a snowstorm said he was terrified they wouldn't make it out alive, but he remained strong for his children and relied on his faith.
Frederick Dominguez and the children, who vanished while looking for a Christmas tree, were rescued Wednesday by a helicopter from a snowy ravine, just as another storm was bearing down in the foothill region about 100 miles north of Sacramento.
"You just want your kids to be safe and you're just praying, `God, keep my kids alive,"' Dominguez told reporters at Feather River Hospital in Paradise.
The rescue came as relatives and friends were starting to lose hope. One snowstorm had covered the family's tracks, and an even bigger storm was hours away from burying the four even deeper.
"I'm just amazed how well they did," Lisa Sams said after seeing her children and ex-husband for the first time since they went missing. "It was like butterflies in my stomach, like if you were going to go on a very first date."
The four appeared to be in good shape as they bounded from a California Highway Patrol helicopter that ferried them to safety in two trips; Alexis, 15, and Joshua, 12, were taken out of the woods first. Their 38-year-old father smiled at cheering relatives and friends later as he and his 18-year-old son, Christopher, emerged from the aircraft.
"They're doing great," Wendy Wilson, the children's aunt, told The Early Show. "They're all in great spirits. Their feet are a little sore. They've got feeling in their toes, and they're doing great."
They were taken to the hospital and checked for dehydration, hypothermia and frostbite, physician Kurt Bower said. They were released within hours.
"I'm surprised how good they are," Bower said. "There's a miracle from God in there somewhere."
After he had been checked at the hospital, Dominguez described three harrowing nights in the wild as he tried to keep his children from panicking and succumbing to the numbing cold. Joshua needed constant reassurance.
"I said, `Son, I would tell you what I bought you for Christmas if I thought we weren't going to make it,"' Dominguez recalled. "My kids were relying on me, and I'm scared, but you can't tell them you're scared."
The ordeal began Sunday, when Dominguez and the children left church and headed to the mountains to cut a tree for Christmas. Because the father had custody of his children at the time, his ex-wife did not know they were missing until she learned Joshua failed to show up at school Monday.
Frederick Dominguez and the children, who vanished while looking for a Christmas tree, were rescued Wednesday by a helicopter from a snowy ravine, just as another storm was bearing down in the foothill region about 100 miles north of Sacramento.
"You just want your kids to be safe and you're just praying, `God, keep my kids alive,"' Dominguez told reporters at Feather River Hospital in Paradise.
The rescue came as relatives and friends were starting to lose hope. One snowstorm had covered the family's tracks, and an even bigger storm was hours away from burying the four even deeper.
"I'm just amazed how well they did," Lisa Sams said after seeing her children and ex-husband for the first time since they went missing. "It was like butterflies in my stomach, like if you were going to go on a very first date."
The four appeared to be in good shape as they bounded from a California Highway Patrol helicopter that ferried them to safety in two trips; Alexis, 15, and Joshua, 12, were taken out of the woods first. Their 38-year-old father smiled at cheering relatives and friends later as he and his 18-year-old son, Christopher, emerged from the aircraft.
"They're doing great," Wendy Wilson, the children's aunt, told The Early Show. "They're all in great spirits. Their feet are a little sore. They've got feeling in their toes, and they're doing great."
They were taken to the hospital and checked for dehydration, hypothermia and frostbite, physician Kurt Bower said. They were released within hours.
"I'm surprised how good they are," Bower said. "There's a miracle from God in there somewhere."
After he had been checked at the hospital, Dominguez described three harrowing nights in the wild as he tried to keep his children from panicking and succumbing to the numbing cold. Joshua needed constant reassurance.
"I said, `Son, I would tell you what I bought you for Christmas if I thought we weren't going to make it,"' Dominguez recalled. "My kids were relying on me, and I'm scared, but you can't tell them you're scared."
The ordeal began Sunday, when Dominguez and the children left church and headed to the mountains to cut a tree for Christmas. Because the father had custody of his children at the time, his ex-wife did not know they were missing until she learned Joshua failed to show up at school Monday.
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