Hiker breaks leg at Joshua Tree, spends 40 hours stranded in desert heat, video shows

A hiker whofell and broke his leg at Joshua Tree National Park was stranded for 40 hours, news outlets report.

Robert Ringo from La Quinta, California, waited for help for almost two days, surviving on two liters of water and juniper berries, CBSLA reported.

He broke his femur on July 16 while walking around Quail Mountain and was in “excruciating pain,” unable to get up from the ground.

“I started trying to at least turn over and when I did, it was just unbelievable pain,” he told KESQ.

With temperatures in the high 90s and as he writhed in pain on the ground, Ringo yelled for help, video shows. He had no cell phone reception in the desert and started to think of ways to help himself, BBC reported.

“There was zero service, and I knew there would be but I had tagged my location and shared it with my son Ryan before I left,” Ringo told BBC. “That’s just something that I always do.”

But even with the location turned on, his family could not find him, KESQ reported. They began looking for him on Friday.

Ringo started to film himself as time dragged on, BBC reported. Then he heard a helicopter above.

At about 9 a.m. Saturday, he saw the search and rescue helicopter, KESQ reported.

“I never got to the point where I thought, I’m not going to make it,” Ringo told the news station. “I just had confidence and faith.”

Rescuers found Ringo and airlifted him to Desert Regional Medical Center, CBSLA reported. He is recovering from his broken leg and is excited to hike again.

“I’m just so grateful, because I mean, if I had never been found, it would be just devastating for my family,” he told CBSLA. “I have a very large family.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Hiker breaks leg at Joshua Tree, spends 40 hours stranded in desert heat, video shows."