Part 7/9:
He recounts ripping open his shirt and lying directly on the nest, feeling the relentless biting and pinching of hundreds of fire ants crawling and biting him all over his body. He covered his face with sand and held his breath, trying to endure the assault. The pain and discomfort persisted until dawn, when the first light provided a glimmer of relief.
The Long Walk and Rescue
As dawn broke, he wiped off the ants and began walking again, eventually stumbling upon a barbed wire fence and a road. Exhausted and traumatized, he crawled over the fence and into a ditch, collapsing on the gravel side. His ordeal caught the attention of Nevada state troopers, who stopped him—startling him with the realization that he had been missing for over 24 hours.