Rescued hiker Nicholas Cendoya is recounting his harrowing “Easter hiking” experience after his release from the hospital, according to an April 7 ABC 7 KABC-TV Los Angeles news report.
“We weren't meant to die,” 19 year-old Cendoya told reporters at a news conference outside Cosa Mesa’s Mission Hospital on Sunday. For Cendoya and his 18-year-old hiking companion Kyndall Jack, an Easter adventure turned into more than the duo bargained for when they lost their way while hiking the Trabuco Canyon.
“We just wanted to go on an Easter adventure,” Cendoya said after his release from the hospital. “I just remember going into a lucid dream, I fell and I was unconscious.” Dr. Stephen Desantis, who is treating Cendoya said the teenager showed signs of blunt-force trauma to a lung, KABC-TV also reported.
According to ABC News, after they lost their way, they tried calling 911, but realized their cellphone battery was dead. They were subsequently separated when they fell while trekking their way down the mountain. While he does not remember much of what happened after the fall, Cendoya knows that he was lost for five days, during which he ate plants to stay live and hallucinated about being chased by tigers.
“The whole time I was lost, I felt the presence of Jesus and my friend, Carlos, who died last year of cancer,” Cendoya said. “I felt they were both with me, inspiring me to stay alive.”
And Jesus and Carlos were not the only two he thought about. Jack, who is listed in stable condition at the University of California-Irvine Medical Center, stayed on his mind. “I just wanted to see Kyndall more than anything. Just to see her face-to-face just so I know that she's OK,” he said.
Cendoya’s experiences have inspired a call to public service as a police officer or firefighter.
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