Story: Man Who Survived Eating Ants Tells His Tale
A 62-year-old hunter was lost last month in the Australian outback and had no food and water for six days until help came.
Reg Foggerdy tells it all as he recounts the six strenuous days he spent in the desert area with nothing but his shorts, T-shirt, and flip flops. He was on a hunting trip with his brother, Ray, when he spotted a camel and shot it. His survival story began when he pursued the camel he had shot.
In an interview with CNN affiliate Seven Network, he says he went wandering around the Great Victoria Desert for about 19 miles and realized that he didn't know where he was. He did have the dead camel but he had no means to cut the meat or cook it as he had no matches and no knife.
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Foggerdy is a diabetic who had a heart attack just this year and he says he had no choice but to turn to ants so he can get something for his rumbling stomach. "They [ants] tasted quite good. The first day, I ate probably 12 ants and the following day, I had 18," he says.
He was starting to get weak and needed more than the nutrients that ants provided but water was more than 100 miles away. While he could see and hear the helicopters in search of him in the dry region, he couldn't get them to notice him since he was under the refuge of trees to keep him from the blistering sun.
As the days passed, he says he was losing hope of getting back to his family alive. "I didn't think anyone was going to find me, and I'd given up," he says.
While he was lying beneath a tree and thinking of his death, an Aboriginal tracker was able to track one of his footprints and the rescue team later found him. According to police who were among the searchers, he was "extremely dehydrated" and "a bit delusional" but they were able to apply first aid and he was airlifted to safety.
With his story starting to roam social media, Foggerdy says he doesn't mind if people start calling him "Ant Man." Also, he says he might return to the desert where he was lost to search for his gun.
