An autistic man named William LaFever was lost in a Utah desert for 3 weeks. The reason William got lost was because someone had stolen his hiking gear while he was on a desert jaunt in the boulder area with his dog. His father had told him to get a ride to page, where the father lived, and come get some money. William instead went on a little hike down Escalante River and then went on a boat ride along Lake Powell to Page where his father lived. It had been almost a month since William’s family had last heard of him. The local sheriff just happened to do a course on rescuing someone with autism and knew that those with autism are naturally drawn to water so the rescue helicopter focused on the Escalante River. That’s where they found William LaFever weak and unable to move who had been scavenging bits of food, capturing frogs and drank river water while attempting to walk the 90 miles from Boulder, Utah, to Page, Ariz. He walked 40 miles over three weeks before being rescued.
This article was very interesting. It is difficult for someone to survive three weeks in a desert alone but on top of that someone who is autistic. I think this was a miracle and if William hadn’t followed the river he probably wouldn’t have been found and most likely would have been dead. In the article it said that William was is really bad shape when they found him. He was unable to walk without support and the rescue crew had said that he wouldn’t have been able to survive another day. I learned that it is important to make things clear and plan things out thoroughly especially with somone who is autistic.