Scott Hern missing Kentucky hiker found alive after lost without food or water for 2 weeks while traversing Red River Gorge. How the Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team managed to find the missing man and get him back to safety.
A missing hiker has been found alive after vanishing in the Kentucky wilderness earlier this month, this despite being without food or water almost for two weeks.
Scott Hern, 48, was last seen by his family in Ohio on July 4th prior to hiking in the Red River Gorge nearly 100 miles away the next day according to WHAS. It was after failure to hear from the hiker come July 6th that Kern’s family reached out to rescue teams.
Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team said Hern’s diary revealed he had previously visited Bell Falls along Highway 715 which led crews to revisit the area on Saturday.
‘We were persistent in our search, but hope was fading.’
The break in the search for the missing man came after rescuers found a shoe print and evidence of a walking stick. Soon a faint noise was heard calling out for help and Hern was located on a steep embankment below a cliff line.
‘It is truly a miracle that Mr. Hern was found after 14 days, and 12 days without any food or water. We were persistent in our search, but hope was fading,’ the rescue group said in a Facebook release.
His family told the rescue team that Hern had been visiting the area the past few months in search of waterfalls and his diary indicated several locations he planned to visit.
His vehicle was last seen at the Tower Rock Parking area along Highway 715 x reported. Teams from Wolfe County Search and Rescue, Powell County Search and Rescue and Red STAR Wilderness EMS unsuccessfully searched the rugged environment for two weeks.
John May, chief of WCSAR, said via the Ironton Journal that Hern’s chances of survival were dim after two weeks: ‘If you look at the timeline, the last time he was seen or heard of was on July 6 and his vehicle had not been moved and as the days ticked by, hope of finding him alive was fading. Saturday [July 20] was our big push, if we hadn’t found him, we would have been scaling our operations back.’
Hope fading, prayers being said… a miracle was needed
Rescuers were beginning to lose hope during their ‘treacherous search’ for Hern when they discovered signs of life on Saturday. By then, rescuers were fearing the search for Hern was going to be a ‘recovery of body’ mission.
‘So I said a prayer knowing the family [of Hern] would probably be getting some very sad news that day,’ rescuer Eric Wolterman recalled.
‘We were in the roughest terrain you could imagine and it’s very dangerous for anyone to even be out there. My team spent hours bushwhacking in our search area,’ Wolterman said.
‘We stopped to regroup, and one of the people on the team heard a very faint noise. We paused and we shouted “who is that?” Thinking it was another search team. I then heard “help.” We took off in the direction.
‘As we got closer asked what his name was and he “Scott Hern” I have never moved faster up hill in my entire life.
‘I was the first one to get up to him and I said “my name is Eric, I’m with Wolfe County search and rescue, you are safe, we are going to get you out of here.
‘He looked at me and said “thank you so much. Will you give me a hug.” I got teary eyed, and gave him a big hug. I think it was the best hug of both of our lives.’
Due to his location on the heavy terrain, the Kentucky State Police assisted in a hoist operation.
Hern was put on to an orange stretcher and airlifted from the remote location to the University of Kentucky hospital.
On Sunday doctors allowed him to start eating food, although he still is not able to walk on his own.
