UNT Student Shares Story Of Survival After 5 Days In Grand Canyon
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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (CBSDFW.COM) - It's a story of survival in the Arizona desert by a North Texas college student who spent five days stranded there last week.
Amber VanHecke was on a solo adventure near the Grand Canyon when she took a wrong turn and ran out of gas. What followed was a story she is grateful she can tell.
VanHecke knew she was in trouble when the roads disappeared, her GPS and cell phone signal quit and the skies darkened. She was in the desert, and by morning - it was worse.
"I tried to back up, and I was completely out of gas," she says.
The 24-year-old UNT student and former Girl Scout says she panicked, until her survival skills kicked in.
"I just shifted to where I thought about it, okay, this is the long game," Vanhecke describes. "I need to make a SOS sign. But the sign was too small. I'm going to make a help sign and try a signal fire."
She divided her food and water to last up to 18 days. She kept her phone charged through her car battery. And she read books to pass the time - and dull her fears.
"Dying alone, probably. Hurting my friends and family my dying alone doing something stupid," she says.
But by day five, she knew she needed to stop waiting.
"I was like, 'I'm kind of tired of waiting for someone to rescue me,' so I rescued myself, I guess."
She walked around 11 miles last Friday, calling 911 76 times. Finally - she got through - for 49 seconds. Several hours later, a rescue crew found her, and her recovery began.
"Eventually, I'll feel okay to travel alone again, and eventually I'll feel okay to fall asleep again. It's just a process, and I'm working on it."
VanHecke says she will travel again, but she may need a few weeks before she's ready. Next time, she says she's going to get a GPS device that her family can track.
