Yes, that was totally unexpected news. 3,000 plus searchers on Sunday, down to a pittance. Most of the time, after a day... two at the max... the news is that the kid has been found dead. Am I right??
Read this. The boy obeyed his dad and stayed on the trail, avoided strangers and didn't respond because the family password wasn't used by searchers.
Interesting.
----------------------------------------------
Scout's parents: 'Brennan continues to amaze us'
Boy says he feels 'good' after surviving four days in mountains
Wednesday, June 22, 2005; Posted: 7:56 p.m. EDT (23:56 GMT)
BOUNTIFUL, Utah (CNN) -- The father of 11-year-old Cub Scout Brennan Hawkins said Wednesday his son "continues to amaze us" after surviving four days alone in the Utah wilderness.
Brennan was found safe Tuesday by a searcher driving an all-terrain vehicle. He was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, where doctors diagnosed him with sunburn, scrapes, bruises and some minor dehydration.
He was released early Wednesday morning and returned to his family home in the suburb of Bountiful.
His parents held two news conferences in their front yard and provided details on their four-day ordeal with a background of yellow ribbons and balloons.
Brennan Hawkins made his first public appearance at the afternoon session, surrounded by family and friends.
He said only that he felt "good" before sitting down at his mother's feet behind the microphones while his parents and four siblings answered reporters' questions.
His parents said the boy appeared to be fine but that he didn't seem ready to talk much about his ordeal -- at which point Brennan Hawkins shook his head.
"Brennan continues to amaze us," said his father, Toby Hawkins. "You know, his ability to deal with this initially, I made the comment that I thought that he was the most ill-prepared out of our five children to deal with it, and now I think he was maybe the best-prepared."
Brennan's mother, Jody Hawkins, suggested her son may have been avoiding searchers by following his father's advice.
"He had two thoughts going through his head all the time," she said. "Toby's always told him that 'if you get lost, stay on the trail.' So he stayed on the trail.
"We've also told him don't talk to strangers. ... When an ATV or horse came by, he got off the trail. ... When they left, he got back on the trail."
"His biggest fear, he told me, was someone would steal him," she said.
Brennan's uncle, Bob Hawkins, said his nephew may have been afraid to contact the strangers because they weren't using the password his family had adopted.
The family explained that Brennan was born prematurely and he is socially immature as a result.
"He doesn't have any disabilities; he's just immature," Toby Hawkins said.
'What a remarkable finish'
Brennan went missing Friday while camping at a Boy Scout camp about 80 miles east of Salt Lake City that is about 8,500 feet in elevation.
Toby Hawkins was asked how he felt. "What a remarkable finish and conclusion to this whole experience," he said.
"You go from incredible worry and concern. ... Then you go through the search process of not getting any clues. ...
"And then in just an instant, kind of flip of the switch, you go to incredible exhilaration and gratitude and appreciation for everybody's efforts that ultimately resulted in the successful rescue of Brennan."
Both parents' composure cracked as they described how they learned their son had been found alive.
Jody Hawkins said she feared the worst when officials from the Summit County Sheriff's Department asked her to get in a car because they had news.
"I, at that point, didn't think Brennan was still with us," she said. "I felt peace with the situation, but I didn't really think he could have survived that long in the wilderness. ...
"So when I was going to get into the sheriff's car I knew they going to tell me that Brennan was no longer with me.
"So I collapsed even before I got into the sheriff's truck, and when they told me that Brennan was still alive, ... my brain still cannot comprehend that."
Although Brennan hasn't given many details about his ordeal, he did tell his father that when he first realized he was lost, he said a prayer.
"I said to Brennan, 'Heavenly father has taken care of you,'" Toby Hawkins said.
As his parents spoke at their morning news conference, Brennan lay sleeping inside.
"His personality has not changed one tiny bit," said Jody Hawkins. "He was cracking jokes to us within 20 to 30 seconds when we saw him yesterday."
One of the first questions Brennan asked after he was rescued, his father said, was if the Pokemon cards he had ordered on eBay had arrived.
Found by ATV searcher
The boy was last reported seen around 5:30 p.m. Friday by a climbing wall supervisor who said he saw Brennan removing his climbing gear.
When the boy failed to show up for dinner an hour later, Scout leaders began searching.
On Tuesday, volunteer searcher Forrest Nunley driving an all-terrain vehicle came across the boy around noon (3 p.m. ET) about a mile and a half south of Lily Lake -- five miles west of where he was last seen, said Summit County Sheriff David Edmunds.
Nunley said he "turned a corner and there was a kid standing in the middle of the trail. He was all muddy and wet."
Nunley then dialed 911 on his cell phone. "He was a little delirious. I sat him down and gave him a little food," he told CNN affiliate KSL.
Volunteers had delayed searching the area where Brennan was found because they thought it unlikely that the boy crossed the nearby mountain ridge to get there.
Brennan told rescuers he'd had nothing to eat or drink during his ordeal.
After eating and drinking, the sheriff said, Brennan -- wearing the same blue sweatshirt, nylon shorts and climbing shoes he was reported wearing Friday -- "wanted to play a video game on one of the searchers' cell phones."
As stated in another thread....it isn't the best idea to tell your kids to not talk to strangers. As quoted above, the kid's greatest fear was that someone would steal him. The don't talk to strangers cliche could have killed this kid. There are better ways to teach your kid about strangers and what to do when they're alone.
Dunno if it's been mentioned, but Brennan is a "special needs" student. They are much more likely to take things literally and that would contribute to the difficulty in finding him. He was doing what he had been told without being able to reason as well as someone without the same mental challenges as Brennan.
His parents have done the best they can to take care of him, but Ron, like you mentioned, I wonder why any child, ESPECIALLY a special needs child, would be in a position to be alone in a camping situatio. Thank God the boy is okay.
I just noticed he's a Cub Scout, not a Boy Scout. At age 11, he must be a Webelos,
I'm a trained Webelos leader and he's required to have parental supervision at all times (if an overnighter)...ESPECIALLY doing something like rock climbing. He's to have a buddy at all times and a minimum of 2 trained Scout leaders watching at all times.
I don't have any "special needs" boys in my den so I've never had to deal with that. It's my last year as Webelos leader as next year I become Scoutmaster for the Pack. We do have some "special needs" boys there so I'll need some special training for that. I go to Scoutmaster training in July and Wood Badge in Sept, I think.
Anyway, the two deep leader rule and buddy system are universal throughout the entire Scout program, so now I'm starting to get curiouser and curiouser about how Brennan got lost in the shuffle like that.
I wanna know what went wrong so it don't happen to us.
So......does this mean the mother WASN'T afraid??? ;)-->
We watched an interview with the parents on CNN. His mother described her deep fear that he was going to be found dead. After he was found, the sheriff went out to get the parents and bring them in to see the boy. The mother described how badly she was shaking...she even fell down and nearly passed out because she was so sure that he was dead. She went on to say that even though he was standing right there, her mind wouldn't let her believe the reality that he was safe and alive. The father collaborated what the mother was saying.
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outofdafog
It's so nice to hear a happy ending
:D-->
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Sudo
Shell,
Yes, that was totally unexpected news. 3,000 plus searchers on Sunday, down to a pittance. Most of the time, after a day... two at the max... the news is that the kid has been found dead. Am I right??
Yes.. delightful news when I saw it.
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TheEvan
My advice is that if you want to get lost or abducted, do it in Utah.
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coolchef1248 @adelphia.net
damn what a wonderful end to that story
when things like this happen i always think of my kids even thought they are adults now
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dmiller
(I wonder if they award some sort of special *merit* badge in the scouts for ordeals like this?)
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Ron G.
It's so wonderful to hear GOOD news on the teevee for a change.
Chalk up one more for the Scouts!!
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Belle
AWESOME NEWS!!! And so glad to hear he's okay, too, only a few scratches and very hungry.
:D-->
I agree, David, he deserves a special merit badge for making it that long in the wilderness on his own.
So......does this mean the mother WASN'T afraid???
;)-->
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Ron G.
Read this. The boy obeyed his dad and stayed on the trail, avoided strangers and didn't respond because the family password wasn't used by searchers.
Interesting.
----------------------------------------------
Scout's parents: 'Brennan continues to amaze us'
Boy says he feels 'good' after surviving four days in mountains
Wednesday, June 22, 2005; Posted: 7:56 p.m. EDT (23:56 GMT)
BOUNTIFUL, Utah (CNN) -- The father of 11-year-old Cub Scout Brennan Hawkins said Wednesday his son "continues to amaze us" after surviving four days alone in the Utah wilderness.
Brennan was found safe Tuesday by a searcher driving an all-terrain vehicle. He was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, where doctors diagnosed him with sunburn, scrapes, bruises and some minor dehydration.
He was released early Wednesday morning and returned to his family home in the suburb of Bountiful.
His parents held two news conferences in their front yard and provided details on their four-day ordeal with a background of yellow ribbons and balloons.
Brennan Hawkins made his first public appearance at the afternoon session, surrounded by family and friends.
He said only that he felt "good" before sitting down at his mother's feet behind the microphones while his parents and four siblings answered reporters' questions.
His parents said the boy appeared to be fine but that he didn't seem ready to talk much about his ordeal -- at which point Brennan Hawkins shook his head.
"Brennan continues to amaze us," said his father, Toby Hawkins. "You know, his ability to deal with this initially, I made the comment that I thought that he was the most ill-prepared out of our five children to deal with it, and now I think he was maybe the best-prepared."
Brennan's mother, Jody Hawkins, suggested her son may have been avoiding searchers by following his father's advice.
"He had two thoughts going through his head all the time," she said. "Toby's always told him that 'if you get lost, stay on the trail.' So he stayed on the trail.
"We've also told him don't talk to strangers. ... When an ATV or horse came by, he got off the trail. ... When they left, he got back on the trail."
"His biggest fear, he told me, was someone would steal him," she said.
Brennan's uncle, Bob Hawkins, said his nephew may have been afraid to contact the strangers because they weren't using the password his family had adopted.
The family explained that Brennan was born prematurely and he is socially immature as a result.
"He doesn't have any disabilities; he's just immature," Toby Hawkins said.
'What a remarkable finish'
Brennan went missing Friday while camping at a Boy Scout camp about 80 miles east of Salt Lake City that is about 8,500 feet in elevation.
Toby Hawkins was asked how he felt. "What a remarkable finish and conclusion to this whole experience," he said.
"You go from incredible worry and concern. ... Then you go through the search process of not getting any clues. ...
"And then in just an instant, kind of flip of the switch, you go to incredible exhilaration and gratitude and appreciation for everybody's efforts that ultimately resulted in the successful rescue of Brennan."
Both parents' composure cracked as they described how they learned their son had been found alive.
Jody Hawkins said she feared the worst when officials from the Summit County Sheriff's Department asked her to get in a car because they had news.
"I, at that point, didn't think Brennan was still with us," she said. "I felt peace with the situation, but I didn't really think he could have survived that long in the wilderness. ...
"So when I was going to get into the sheriff's car I knew they going to tell me that Brennan was no longer with me.
"So I collapsed even before I got into the sheriff's truck, and when they told me that Brennan was still alive, ... my brain still cannot comprehend that."
Although Brennan hasn't given many details about his ordeal, he did tell his father that when he first realized he was lost, he said a prayer.
"I said to Brennan, 'Heavenly father has taken care of you,'" Toby Hawkins said.
As his parents spoke at their morning news conference, Brennan lay sleeping inside.
"His personality has not changed one tiny bit," said Jody Hawkins. "He was cracking jokes to us within 20 to 30 seconds when we saw him yesterday."
One of the first questions Brennan asked after he was rescued, his father said, was if the Pokemon cards he had ordered on eBay had arrived.
Found by ATV searcher
The boy was last reported seen around 5:30 p.m. Friday by a climbing wall supervisor who said he saw Brennan removing his climbing gear.
When the boy failed to show up for dinner an hour later, Scout leaders began searching.
On Tuesday, volunteer searcher Forrest Nunley driving an all-terrain vehicle came across the boy around noon (3 p.m. ET) about a mile and a half south of Lily Lake -- five miles west of where he was last seen, said Summit County Sheriff David Edmunds.
Nunley said he "turned a corner and there was a kid standing in the middle of the trail. He was all muddy and wet."
Nunley then dialed 911 on his cell phone. "He was a little delirious. I sat him down and gave him a little food," he told CNN affiliate KSL.
Volunteers had delayed searching the area where Brennan was found because they thought it unlikely that the boy crossed the nearby mountain ridge to get there.
Brennan told rescuers he'd had nothing to eat or drink during his ordeal.
After eating and drinking, the sheriff said, Brennan -- wearing the same blue sweatshirt, nylon shorts and climbing shoes he was reported wearing Friday -- "wanted to play a video game on one of the searchers' cell phones."
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Pirate1974
The kids in our scout troop are always complaining about having to use the "buddy system." Nobody goes anywhere without their buddy.
Here's a perfect example of why.
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lindyhopper
As stated in another thread....it isn't the best idea to tell your kids to not talk to strangers. As quoted above, the kid's greatest fear was that someone would steal him. The don't talk to strangers cliche could have killed this kid. There are better ways to teach your kid about strangers and what to do when they're alone.
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Belle
Dunno if it's been mentioned, but Brennan is a "special needs" student. They are much more likely to take things literally and that would contribute to the difficulty in finding him. He was doing what he had been told without being able to reason as well as someone without the same mental challenges as Brennan.
His parents have done the best they can to take care of him, but Ron, like you mentioned, I wonder why any child, ESPECIALLY a special needs child, would be in a position to be alone in a camping situatio. Thank God the boy is okay.
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Ron G.
I just noticed he's a Cub Scout, not a Boy Scout. At age 11, he must be a Webelos,
I'm a trained Webelos leader and he's required to have parental supervision at all times (if an overnighter)...ESPECIALLY doing something like rock climbing. He's to have a buddy at all times and a minimum of 2 trained Scout leaders watching at all times.
I don't have any "special needs" boys in my den so I've never had to deal with that. It's my last year as Webelos leader as next year I become Scoutmaster for the Pack. We do have some "special needs" boys there so I'll need some special training for that. I go to Scoutmaster training in July and Wood Badge in Sept, I think.
Anyway, the two deep leader rule and buddy system are universal throughout the entire Scout program, so now I'm starting to get curiouser and curiouser about how Brennan got lost in the shuffle like that.
I wanna know what went wrong so it don't happen to us.
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krys
I have a question:
If the parents had taken the precaution of instilling a family password - - how come they didn't tell this to the rescuers?
Things that make me go hmmmmm.
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CoolWaters
We watched an interview with the parents on CNN. His mother described her deep fear that he was going to be found dead. After he was found, the sheriff went out to get the parents and bring them in to see the boy. The mother described how badly she was shaking...she even fell down and nearly passed out because she was so sure that he was dead. She went on to say that even though he was standing right there, her mind wouldn't let her believe the reality that he was safe and alive. The father collaborated what the mother was saying.
God is bigger than all that we can ask or think.
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