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A California couple saved a man who was lost in the mountains for two weeks and survived on only half a jar of sauce.
Allison Scott and her boyfriend Freddie Valdiva spotted the survivor, only named Eric, after he pointed a water bottle at them on a stick.
The couple also heard him moan as they hiked through the San Bernardino Mountains on Black Friday.
They said Eric told them he was lost after taking a cab into the hills before walking alone near Big Bear Lake.
Their dramatic rescue was captured by the pair as a search and rescue helicopter was deployed to take the three to safety.
Freddie Valdiva, left, with Eric, center, and Allison Scott, right, before the rescue.
The couple had camped out below a flight path when a plane “went pretty low and we heard someone yell for help,” Scott said in his interview with ABC Los Angeles.
But then they heard screaming and saw Eric’s makeshift flag to shout at them as they passed.
In a separate interview with NBC Los Angeles, Scott said it took the couple 30 minutes to get to Eric because of the terrain. He was waiting by the creek bed.
Scott, a cosmetic tattoo artist in Redlands, said: “We ended up finding it, and my boyfriend is looking over the ridge and yelling, ‘Hey, see you.'”
Eric said he was from Oceanside, halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego and about 130 miles west of Big Bear, according to ABC Los Angeles.
He also said that his only food was half a jar of sauce. Eric had been drinking water from a nearby stream. Experts say that the human body can go about four weeks without eating.
When Eric was transported to safety, Allison Scott said it only took around 15 minutes for a rescue helicopter to arrive on the scene after being called.
‘He had a stick with a water bottle trying to make a sign. She couldn’t walk. His feet were extremely swollen and infected just from walking so much, and possibly from the cold where she was,” Scott added.
She continued: “When we found him, he said, ‘It’s a Thanksgiving miracle.’ Scott said she called 911 and within 15 minutes, a rescue helicopter arrived on the scene.
scott said Los Angeles that Eric said that he had taken a taxi to the mountains to go hiking.
She told the station: ‘He showed me the area where he slept and the little house he had built. She was pretty close to a stream and just below a flight path, so she started camping there hoping someone would notice and said she had given up a few days before.
Scott told NBC Los Angeles that Eric said he had taken a cab into the mountains to hike.
Eric is shown tied up as a rescuer prepares to be flown out of the woods.
Eric also tried to offer the couple money in exchange for the discovery, but they refused.
After the rescue, Scott said he talked to Eric. He said he doesn’t have a cell phone. We got his landline and he said, ‘Whenever you’re in Oceanside, I’ll take you out to dinner.’ Just call me,” Scott said.
“He also said, ‘I’m so sorry I messed up your camping trip,’ and I was like, ‘I’m glad you’re okay.’ I’m glad to have found you.
Scott, cosmetic tattoo artist, with his boyfriend
A post on Valdiva’s Instagram page shows Scott pointing at the helicopter. She wrote in the caption: ‘Great camping trip with Allison Scott. We found a missing/injured hiker and airlifted him out.
Scott elaborated a bit more on his Facebook page. She wrote: “Had a very interesting camping trip, heard a guy yell for help when a chopper flew over Alfred Valdivia Jr. and went looking for him, turns out he’s been there since 11.”
She continued: ‘I had enough service on my phone and I called 911 and we got a helicopter to pick him up. They took him to a road where an ambulance was waiting for him. Then we set up camp and made a delicious soup.
The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District said in a statement that Eric was treated for “minor injuries.”