A 62-year-old man in Australia, who was able to survive being stranded in the middle of the outback for almost a week by eating ants, has decided to tell the tale of his harrowing experience.
When Perth-native Reg Foggerdy set out to hunt feral camels in Western Australia, he did not expect it would keep him out in the wilderness longer than what he was accustomed to.
He had just taken off his full survival gear, including his boots and GPS, when a wild camel suddenly appeared near his camp. He grabbed his rifle and took a shot at the animal, but it quickly took off.
Foggerdy gave chase to the feral camel without noticing that he did not have his survival kit with him.
By the time he caught up with the dying animal, he realized that he had reached a part of the outback that he was not familiar with.
"I didn't realize chasing this camel I didn't know where I was," Foggerdy said. "I didn't want to get lost but that's how it was."
Despite having the body of the dead feral camel with him, Foggerdy was not able to use it for food as the animal's hide was much too thick to penetrate without the use of a knife. He also did not have any means to start a fire.
Ray, Foggerdy's brother who was with him at the camp before he went to chase the wild camel, became worried that he has not come back yet.
During the first night, Ray shot a rifle round into the air and even sounded off the horn of his car to catch his brother's attention but there was no response.
Foggerdy recounted that he did in fact hear the noises from his brother but he could not make out which direction they were coming from.
The following day, a massive air and land search was started to rescue the lost hunter, but after three unsuccessful days the police told Ray to return home. He said they did not want him to find his brother's body.
"When I left on the Sunday, I thought he was already gone," Ray said. "All I wanted to do was bring him home."
Foggerdy, however, was still very much alive.
For four days, he had wandered the wilderness at night and took refuge under trees when it became too hot to travel during the day.
Remembering what he had learned from watching survival programs, Foggerdy looked for a black ant nest and forced himself to eat the tiny insects. At first, he only ate 12 of the ants, but by the following day he had consumed 18 of them.
"There was a piece of me that wanted to lie there and pass away," Foggerdy said. "I was thinking of my family who would see me laying there."
After wandering through the Australian outback for six straight days with no food and water, Foggerdy was just about ready to enter the last hours of his life when he was rescued by police officers who were finally able to reach him.
The rescuers were led to the scene by an Aboriginal elder named Robin Smythe, who was conducting a land survey near the area at the time. Smythe spotted a faint print of a thong in the bush, which helped the police pinpoint Foggerdy's location around 12 hours later.
Foggerdy is still recovering from his near-death ordeal in the Australian outback and medical tests have shown that his brain had considerably shrunk. He said he has seen strange visions while he was in the wilderness but he could not tell whether he was delirious.
Foggerdy, who has since been dubbed "Ant Man" after news of his story became public, said he wants to go back to where he was found by his rescuers in the wilderness to retrieve his prized hunting rifle.
"Yes, I want to get my rifle back," Foggerdy said. "I hid it behind a tree so well that five police took two days looking for it, and they still can't find it."
Photo: Pison Jaujip | Flickr
