A man ingested a mushroom, berries and water to survive getting lost for more than a month in a Washington state national park, he has said in an interview about his nearly fatal experience.
In a compelling conversation with people.com published over the weekend, Robert Schock recounted how he “really felt … close to death” – and he had just lost control of his bowels – when what he believed would be his final desperate scream for help caught the attention of the person who ultimately saved his life.
Schock told the outlet his ordeal aged him “several years”, and he has sworn off ever returning to the North Cascades national park “anytime soon”. Nonetheless, he said he is physically “recovering pretty well” after having regained about 40lbs (18kg) following his dramatic rescue from a kind of hardship others have not survived.
As he recounted it, the musician from Blaine, Washington, had previously been to North Cascades when he went to its Hannegan Pass trailhead on 31 July planning to run about 20 miles (32km) there alongside his dog. But he said he had not been in several years, and wildfires in 2021 as well as 2022 had wiped out the trail that had been there previously.
Schock had a map but it was old, and he quickly lost his bearings. His phone died on his second day in the park. By the third day, he sent his dog, Freddy, to find his way home.
Authorities soon spotted Schock’s car and found Freddy near the Chilliwack River in the park. But, as Schock’s mother, Jan Thompson, told people.com, they were unsure whether he had any intention of coming out of the park because he had left his wallet in his car.
Schock also had no overnight equipment, according to hikers who had last seen him – and the car’s passenger side window had been left rolled halfway down, said Thompson, who had gotten the information while calling officials to report her son missing after she had been unable to reach him.
Thompson told people.com that she never gave up hope that Schock would be found alive, even after initial search efforts had been unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Schock said to the outlet that he had taken over some bears’ abandoned nesting grounds. He reportedly said he sustained himself mostly on berries, and once on a large mushroom which “just tasted like … [what] you would have on a pizza or something” and water that funneled into his mouth.
Schock at one point said he saw a helicopter, prompting him to shout: “Help!” But he didn’t get the crew’s attention, Schock remarked, so he had to wait, according to people.com.
He said he occasionally lost track of time and even thought to himself: “Please, let this be over, I want this to end.’” On 30 August, people.com wrote, Schock was by a riverbank when his bowels emptied without his meaning for them to do so – and, while nude, he thought to himself that he “wasn’t going to make it through the night”.
Schock reportedly said he decided to scream for help one last time. Members of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association who were returning to their camp after performing maintenance on the trail heard Schock and found him, including one who gave him his shirt, according to the group’s website and people.com.
The Pacific Northwest Trail Association said Schock – found “alive, but not well” – had managed to survive “against improbable odds and at great psychological toll”.
Schock was flown by helicopter to a hospital. He could only be fed intravenously for a few days. But eventually he spoke with his mother, became well enough to be discharged from the hospital and traveled to Ohio – where he grew up – to continue his recovery.
Beside a bit of “underlying joint pain”, Schock said he is feeling better and optimistic about getting back some of “those years” that his ordeal in the North Cascades took from him.
“That guy who came and clothed me … very well saved my life,” Schock told people.com. “It is an understatement to say how truly thankful I am for those people to be there that day because it came pretty close to the finish line.”
