Flip-Flop-Wearing Man Survives 6 Days In Wilderness By Eating Berries And Bees

Ohio man Matthew Matheny clearly wasn't planning on a huge hike when he headed out for Mount St. Helens the morning of August 6. The Washington state friends he was visiting had to work, so he borrowed their car and took off to check out a trail, only wearing a pair of flip-flops. Unfortunately, he got lost, and wound up spending the next six days in the wilderness. Somehow, he survived, existing primarily on a diet of berries and bees, says CNN.

When his friends realized that Matheny was missing and notified the authorities, crews of volunteer searchers scoured the woods every day until he was found. They eventually spotted him about 2.7 miles away from where his car was discovered, fortunately still conscious; he was lifted to a health facility by helicopter to get treated for dehydration.

Matheney's mother credits his training as a nurse, as well as years in the Boy Scouts, for his survival: "He does P90X and is interested in fitness and health, and possibly that's what saved him." When bees kept biting him, "he killed them and ate them," according to his mother, accounting for his survival diet.

Although Matheny's treacherous hike had a happy ending, no doubt his family and friends endured days of anxiety while he was missing. His mom sums it up with the perfect mom quote to CNN: "I'm going to wring his neck. What he was doing up there with only flip-flops, I have no idea."