Photo: Alaska State Troopers
Just days afterfour children who went missing in an Alaskan blizzardwere found, one of the boys is sharing how they managed to survive.
“I don’t ever want anybody to go through what I did,” he told the outlet.
Ethan and three of his cousins — Christopher Johnson, 14, Frank Johnson, 8, and Trey Camille, 2 — went missing on Sunday, Feb. 2, while on a “snowmachine ride” near their home of Nunam Iqua, Alaska, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
Irene said the three older boys put themselves at risk in order to protect Trey, braving the elements while lost that night in order to shield the toddler.
Added Irene: “Chris wanted to hold Gus Gus in the hole, and so they made room for him to go in the hole. … [Ethan] moved into the doorway. That’s why he’s got all the frostbite, to help protect from the cold.”
After recovering the boys last week, a representative from Emmonak Search and Rescue toldCNNthat the kids likely lost their “sense of direction” amid the blizzard conditions.
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The Sunday the boys disappeared, Alaska State Troopers had received areportthat the four had not returned home from a “snowmachine ride” near their village that day. Officials said “reduced visibility” from the snowstorm at first “hampered” search efforts, which saw assists from the Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Alphonso Thomas, Trey’s father, toldKTUUthat the successful rescue “immediately brought me to tears.”
“I never would have thought that he would make it,” he said. “Being 2 and with weather like that, people usually don’t make it. … Tough kids, all of them.”
source: people.com
