Texas Man Survived Five Days in Forest with Collapsed Lung
A Texas man who was missing for five days was found Sunday in Montgomery County, and from the sound of it, he's built of some stern stuff.
KTRK-TV reports that 32-year-old Jose Velazquez had last been seen late Tuesdaynight , June 25th having drinks with his fiance at a bar in Houston. When he didn't show up for work the next day, his family reported him missing and the search began.
Velazquez was found Sunday, and it's remarkable that he was alive.
According to KTRK, searchers combing the woods next to FM 1488 near Highway 242 in Montgomery County were about to call it quits when someone spotted the bumper of Velazquez's car deep in the forest. The vehicle was in bad shape, and so was Velazquez. He'd been thrown from the car and had a collapsed lung. Somehow he endured five days and nights of extreme heat and dehydration on top of his injuries, and remained hospitalized Monday.
The Houston Chronicle reports that searchers knew the general area in which to look because they were able to ping his phone. However, the phone died before they could get a more accurate location. Velazquez didn't use his phone after the crash, which I'm guessing had to do with the fact that he was so severely injured.
The Chronicle reports that Velazquez was laughing and making jokes in his hospital room. That's always a good sign when someone's on the road to recovery, right?
Jose, kudos to you for hanging in there, man.