- Robert Ringo, 67, spent 40 hours stranded in the desert after falling and breaking his femur at
Joshua Tree 's Quail Mountain on July 8. - He had no cellphone service on the
hike , so he had no way to call for help, other than yelling. - He had two liters of water with him when he fell and ate juniper berries off a nearby bush to survive.
- Ringo had shared his location with his son before he started the hike, and his son launched the search and rescue party that helped find him.
- "Although he was found in extreme pain and unable to walk, he was in good spirits and was quickly re-hydrated pending extrication," Dave Smith, the park's superintendent, told Insider.
A 67-year-old hiker was left stranded for two days this month after he broke his leg in Joshua Tree
Robert Ringo, who lives in La Quinta, California, was taking a walk on Joshua Tree's Quail Mountain when he fell and broke his femur on July 9, according to News Channel 3.
He had two liters of water with him, but no cell service to call for help. Temperatures in Joshua Tree reached 107 degrees Fahrenheit on July 9, with highs over 105 degrees on July 10 and 11 as well.
With nothing to do but scream for help, Ringo started filming himself.
"I don't know if I'm going to be able to get up, but I'm sure they'll be out looking for me tonight," Ringo said in the video, which aired on "Good Morning America" Thursday. "This might be the last episode."
By the next morning, Ringo was able to crawl to a nearby juniper bush so he could have something to eat.
Before he left for the hike, Ringo had shared his location with his son — which likely saved his life.
His son, Ryan Ringo, told ABC 7 that when he hadn't heard from his father, he filed a missing persons report and launched a search party in the area of his last known location.
Ringo was finally found by a California Highway Patrol helicopter on the morning of July 11, Dave Smith, Joshua Tree National Park's superintendent, told Insider.
"Although he was found in extreme pain and unable to walk, he was in good spirits and was quickly re-hydrated pending extrication," Smith told Insider. "The injured party shared that he was an avid hiker from Florida and that he appreciated the lack of humidity and bugs here in the California desert during the two days he was lying prone."
Ringo was taken to the Desert Regional Medical Center, where his leg was treated.
"I never got to the point where I thought, I'm not going to make it. I just had a confidence and a faith," Ringo told
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