Malachi Bradley is back with his family after spending a night lost in a Utah forest. The 10 year-old was camping with his family near Paul Lake in the remote mountains 200 miles east of Salt Lake City when, he says, he set out Sunday to gather mushrooms and got lost.
The boy relied on survival smarts he learned from his father. As the temperatures dropped into the 30s, he used large rocks for shelter, wrapping a T-shirt around his legs and staying huddled inside his jacket to stay warm. He also used the jacket to filter water to drink.
A search team of 100 members combed the terrain for any sign of the boy.
“I thought if I was in an open space, maybe the helicopters would find me,” Bradley said. “I sat there most of the day, waving at helicopters.”
The search crews found Bradley Monday, and after a ride on a rescue chopper, his 28-hour ordeal was finally over.
“I didn’t have anything bad happen to me other than tripping, getting a few cuts,” Bradley said.
The boy’s mother, Molly Bradley, said her son remains in good spirits.
“He’s going to be OK, which is the bottom line. That’s super exciting,” she said. “So exciting, such a relief.”