(Newswire.net — April 14, 2016) — Ann Rodgers and her dog were on the way to visit her grandchildren in Phoenix on March 31st, when she ran out of gas on a highway and then used up the battery of her hybrid vehicle.
The old woman explained that she climbed several ridge lines in the area in an attempt to establish cellphone service to call for help, but became disoriented and got lost.
She survived the following nine days by eating wild plants and drinking water from a pond.
The search party found her car on April 3rd, on the side of a remote road, following which the police started a search for Ann Rodgers. Six days later, a ranger found her dog wandering around.
Police found Ann nine days after she got lost. They first saw the word “help” during an aerial search of the area, which the grandmother wrote using rocks and sticks on the canyon floor, and then found her in the Fort Apache reservation in Arizona.
She was found standing next to a signal fire and waving to the helicopter. She had enough strength to stand and climb into the helicopter herself.
The lost woman was exhausted, tired and hungry, but was discharged from hospital the same day. Doctors said that it is a miracle that the old woman survived nine days and eight nights in the Arizona wilderness, dealing with a high risk of being attacked by wild animals.
Gila County Sheriff’s detective Johnny Holmes, who coordinated the search and rescue of Ann Rodgers, said that the probabilities of finding her alive were really low. He explained that they were expecting the worst but hoping for the best.
Several hikers and a number of different rescue agencies helped in the search.
But Ann Rodgers and her dog survived. Ann was released from the hospital in Payson just a few hours after they transported her by helicopter.
This brave and amazing elderly woman is now at home in Tucson, with her family and dog.