Surviving the Desert

Summary

If you search the Internet for “desert survival stories,” you’ll find lots of heart-warming stories about people who get rescued from danger in the desert. For example, the story of a woman named Victoria Grover appears on many websites. In 2012 Victoria, then 59 years old, was hiking in the high desert of Utah. Her plan was to hike 6 miles and then go home. But while jumping down a small ledge, she broke her leg. The only way she could move was by shuffling along on the ground from a seated position. She had no food. She had not told anyone where she was going. The most dangerous part of this was hypothermia since night-time temperatures fell to around freezing. She was trapped there for 4 days, sleeping during the day and huddling for warmth at night, until she was discovered and rescued.

These survival stories on the Internet usually have the same story line. Our intrepid hero goes into the one of the world’s vast deserts thinking she will be home for dinner. Then an accident happens. She breaks a leg, gets lost, runs out of water, and so on. She or he courageously pushes the limits of endurance to battle the elements and survive. And then almost magically, a search party appears and rescues them from near death. After a short stint in the hospital, their story appears in the news and they become slightly famous. These stories warm our hearts. They enhance our faith in the human community, reinforcing our belief that we can fix most problems if we just try hard enough and work together.