A 62-year-old man in Australia, who was able to survive being stranded in the middle of the outback for nearly a week by eating ants, has chose to tell the tale of his harrowing experience. “The first day, I ate probably 12 ants and the following day, I had 18”, he says.
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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.
“I’ve heard of people dying after three days with no water, I don’t know why I survived six days”, he told 7News.
“I followed this camel into the bush, I had walked at least 30 kilometres and didn’t know where I was”.
Foggerdy and his brother were driving back to base after an unsuccessful day of hunting when Foggerdy removed his survival gear (including Global Positioning System and boots) and chased after a camel who suddenly appeared.
Describing the unconventional delicacy, Reg said: ‘They tasted quite good.
“There was a piece of me that wanted to lie there and pass away”, Foggerdy said.
He found the dead camel, but without a knife or matches, had no means of eating his quarry.
Foggerdy, a diabetic who suffered a heart attack earlier this year, remembered a few advice he watched in the Bear Grylls survivor show when he saw the ants. “So I couldn’t go and cut a steak off the animal because I had no way to cook it and had no way to cut it”.
Foggerdy said he saw police helicopters searching for him but barely had the energy to wave for help. I didn’t think anyone was going to find me and I’d given up. Police said he was “extremely dehydrated” and “a bit delusional” when they found him.
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. Foggerday recalls opening his eyes and seeing them, feeling happy of being found.
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And despite his brush with death, the grandad-of-two, hasn’t ruled out going back to the bush. “I’d given up”, Foggerdy said, adding that he still intends to go back and find his rifle.
