When This Boy Went Missing In The Wilderness, He Escaped With A Harrowing Tale Of Survival

Malachi Bradley, a young boy from Utah, was used to camping in the wilderness. But when he got lost, Bradley had to draw on all of his survival skills to make sure he that made it through a cold night on his own. This child’s tale of endurance is truly remarkable.

Malachi Bradley is a ten-year-old boy from Salt Lake City, Utah. Back in the summer of 2015, Bradley and his family headed off for a day out in the stunning surroundings of the High Uintas Wilderness, UT. But unfortunately it all went horribly wrong.

That Sunday morning, the family embarked on a hike near the Paul Lake area of the High Uintas Mountains. The plan was to go fishing and then cook whatever they managed to catch. And by around 10:30 a.m. Bradley had successfully brought in a fish.

Excited to cook the fish, Bradley decided that he wanted to find some mushrooms to serve it with. So, he set off into the bushes to see what he could find. But soon the boy realized something terrifying – he was lost in the wild.

Bradley had wandered off too far and couldn’t find his way back. Meanwhile, his dad, his dad’s friend and Bradley’s two siblings were getting concerned about him. Half an hour went by with no sign of the ten-year-old – and his dad knew that he had to act.

Bradley’s father began hiking the three miles back to his car, which was parked at the Paradise Park Campground. But when he got there he didn’t have any reception on his cell phone. He had to drive to find some signal, and when he did, he called 911.

In the meantime, young Bradley had gone so far into the wilderness that he wasn’t able to navigate his way to a road. His hopes of being able to flag down a passing car were dashed. The situation was becoming more worrying by the minute.

The phone call to the emergency services sparked a huge search and rescue operation. A huge team sprang into action, descending on the vast area in the hopes of finding the ten-year-old boy safe and well. There was even a helicopter searching from above.

But by the end of the day, Bradley still had not been located. His mother, Molly Chrisman, who had stayed at the campsite that day, was very worried about her son. Apart from anything else, she had recently heard about a young boy who had died after getting lost in Arizona.

As the rescue operation went on unsuccessfully, Bradley turned his attention to fueling himself. He managed to drink water from the river to stay hydrated, but finding something to eat was trickier. Trying to catch a fish with a makeshift spear proved fruitless.

Soon, night came and Bradley was still lost in the wilderness. His father and his friend kept a campfire going, in the hope that the young boy might somehow make his way back to them alone. But sadly, he didn’t.

It was getting colder and Bradley knew that he had to keep warm. He managed to find a large group of rocks that were still warm from the heat of the day’s sun. So he snuggled up among them, covered his legs with his t-shirt and tried to keep warm in his jacket.

Morning soon arrived and Bradley had managed to survive the night alone in the wild. Having taken a break overnight, the search and rescue operation fired up once again. A helicopter began scanning the area, using a loudspeaker to try and communicate with Bradley.

Thankfully, Bradley heard the helicopter flying above him and so he made a smart move. He was in a densely wooded area and he knew that rescuers wouldn’t be able to see him where he was. So he positioned himself in a clearing where he was more likely to be spotted.

Then, a search plane finally caught sight of Bradley. After a scary overnight ordeal, a helicopter scooped him up and brought him back to his waiting family. The nightmare was over, and Bradley was alive and well, if hungry.

Of course, his family was totally delighted to have Bradley back. Thinking back to that moment of relief, his mom recalls thinking, “This is going to be all over and it’s not a tragedy.” Nearly 30 hours after he first went missing, Bradley was returned to safety.

It turned out that Bradley had trekked a total of five miles from where he went missing from his family. Not only had he traveled quite the distance, but the boy had also traversed a ravine and a hill before he was eventually located.

“It was weird not having anybody with me, but I just kept going. I knew I had to make it back or my family would be really sad,” Bradley told USA Today after the unpleasant experience was all over. But something happened just before his ordeal that may have played a part in his survival.

Bradley’s aunt, Lori Matthews, told NBC News how her nephew and his friend had been camping just a week before and that they had been practicing survival skills. They were playing a game based on the concept “What would we do if we got lost?”, drawing upon the lessons that Bradley’s dad had taught him previously.

Clearly the boy’s dad had taught his son well – providing him with enough knowledge to survive a night in the wilderness on his own. But young Bradley said that he wouldn’t want it to happen again. “I’ll learn from my mistakes,” he told USA Today, although he hasn’t been put off the idea of camping entirely.