Two hikers were rescued from the everglades Friday morning after being lost and living off of swamp water for seven days.
Ryan Crowder, 25, and Tom Rieker, 24, lost the trail they intended to take in the Big Cypress National Preserve on December 1 – forcing them to walk 32 miles in waist-deep water, according to Wink News.
The lifelong friends were planning on hiking the entire 1,300-mile Florida Scenic Trail when they lost their map and their way in Collier County.
They were found four miles north of mile marker 63 on Interstate 75 on Friday by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, who conducted a helicopter search with the National Park Service and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Ryan Crowder, 25, (right) and Tom Rieker, 24, (left) lost the trail they intended to take in the Big Cypress National Preserve on December 1 – forcing them to walk 32 miles in waist-deep water, according to Wink News
Crowder and Rieker (left and right respectively) are lifelong friends and were planning on hiking the entire 1,300-mile Florida Scenic Trail when they lost their map and their way in Collier County
Once they were located deputies directed a helicopter from Miami to hoist them out of the wilderness.
A dramatic video of the rescue shows the moment the helicopter swoops down and an officer descends to pick up each of the hikers and carry them up and out of harm’s way.
During the seven days they were missing they survived on just beef jerky, Ramen noodles and boiled swamp water. They had run out of all other food and water.
The pair have said that they don’t think they would have made it if they didn’t call for help.
Once they were located deputies directed a helicopter from Miami to hoist them out of the wilderness
A dramatic video of the rescue shows the moment the helicopter swoops down and an officer descends to pick up each of the hikers and carry them up and out of harm’s way
They were found four miles fourth of mile marker 63 on Interstate 75 on Friday by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, who conducted a helicopter search with the National Park Service and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue
During the seven days they were missing they survived on just beef jerky, Ramen Noodles and boiled swamp water. They had run out of all other food and water. The pair have said that they don’t think they would have made it if they didn’t call for help
‘I’m just saying to myself over and over again, that we’re not going to die out here,’ Rieker told the outlet.
Crowder also said he lost his tent – forcing the pair to sleep just inches away from hungry alligators and other dangerous wildlife.
‘We slept last night on a 20 by 20 little island surrounded by water moccasin and alligators,’ Crowder explained.
‘One morning we woke up earlier and a wild hog being killed by something, you know, pretty close to our campsite.’
The friends, who run a YouTube channel Explorida, said they were planning on posting their adventure online.
The pair initially expected the Collier County leg of the trip to take between two and three days, but because they lost their way it ended up taking more than double that amount of time.
‘We noticed on the flight back that we still had another day and a half, two days walk in that water with the pace we were going,’ Crowder told NBC2.