Nante Niemi.Photo: Hurley School District/Facebook
An 8-year-old boy who wasmissing in the Michigan wilderness for two dayssays he feared he might never be rescued.
Second grader Nante Niemi, of Wisconsin, disappeared Saturday during a family camping trip in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, according to a previous Michigan State Police (MSP)press release.
The boy was found in “good health” two days later underneath a log about two miles from the campsite, state police said.
In a new interview withABC News, Nante said he got lost while trying to find his way back to camp in a remote portion of Michigan’s upper peninsula, where he was camping with his grandfather and three uncles.
When they were out collecting firewood, the boy said he was instructed to “go back to camp,” but he didn’t know the way — and it was impossible to ask for directions because his uncle had “already turned around and left.”
“I prayed for being found and not stuck out here for the rest of my life,” Nante told the outlet.
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Nante’s mother, Jessica Buerger, said family members called for help after failing to locate him during an initial search of the area.
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So how did he survive? Nanteconfirmed that he “ate snow"while lost in the wilderness, something he said he does in the wintertime.
MSP previously saidthe boy also claimed to have covered himself up with branches and leaves for warmth “and also blanketed the log he was under.”
Nante Niemi rescue.MSP Eighth District Twitter
At one point, Nante said a helicopter flew overhead, but seemingly did not see him. “I was waving my hands in the air and yelling at them to get their attention,” the boy told ABC News.
Eventually, rescue came. Nante said he heard people calling his name before spotting someone for the first time in days.
This ordeal hasn’t soured Nante’s love for the outdoors, though. “I’m still going to go camping,” he told the outlet.
source: people.com
