Man Survives 8 Days Lost in the Jungle with Broken Hip and Leg

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture from responders.

 

A man has narrowly escaped death after being lost in the jungle for eight days, surviving on nothing but water while immobilised by a broken hip and leg.

 

Mr Neramit Luangaromfa, District Chief of Sai Yok in Kanchanaburi Province, revealed that authorities were alerted to the case on January 22. Village headman Chamnarn Saengpetchon reported that Mr Chinawat, a 31-year-old resident of Ban Thung Kang Yang village, had ventured into the forest within the Sri Nakarin Dam National Park alone to forage on January 16 and subsequently went missing.

 

Family members and locals had been searching for Mr Chinawat since his disappearance, but to no avail. Upon receiving the report, Mr Neramit coordinated efforts involving the village headman, national park officials, municipal protection units, the Pitakkarn Foundation rescue team, relatives, and residents to launch a deeper search into the mountainous forest.

 

On the evening of January 22, search teams discovered a plastic bag containing food hanging from a tree and Mr Chinawat’s parked motorcycle, but there was no sign of the man himself. Believing he had wandered deeper into the forest, search operations were paused due to darkness, with plans to resume the following morning.

 

At 08:00 on January 23, the search intensified. A 20-person ground team combed the dense forest while another group of 15 used four-wheel-drive vehicles to patrol nearby trails, hoping Mr Chinawat might emerge on foot.

 

At 10:30 the ground search team found Mr Chinawat lying injured and exhausted in the mountainous forest. Though weak and dazed, he was still able to communicate. He was found with a broken leg and fractured hip, injuries sustained when he fell from a tree while foraging.

 

Despite his severe injuries, Mr Chinawat survived for eight days by drinking water, with no food available.

 

Rescuers transported him out of the forest and handed him over to the Pitakkarn Foundation’s emergency medical team, which rushed him to Somdet Phra Piyamaharaj Rommaniethaket Hospital. Doctors have reported that Mr Chinawat is in a stable condition but will remain under close medical observation.

 

-- 2025-01-24