"We weren't meant to die," were the words spoken by 19-year-old hiker Nicholas Cendoya, one of the teenage hikers lost for days in the wilderness after becoming disoriented on a hike. ABC News reported his words after he was released from the hospital, that he and his hiking partner were in, on Sunday, April 7, 2013.
Cendoya and 18-year-old Kyndall Jack went hiking on March 31, 2013, near the Trabuco Canyon in California. When they did not return, officials launched an absolutely massive search effort.
Cendoya was found shirtless, barefoot, and disoriented on Wednesday evening. He was taken to the hospital for treatment for dehydration among other injuries. Jack was found later on Thursday morning without shoes and clinging to a ledge.
A press conference outside Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo on Sunday had Cendoya speaking. He said that he and Jack "just wanted to go on an Easter adventure." They were hanging out for the first time that day.
"We weren't meant to die," he said.
They attempted to call 911 once they got lost, but the battery on their cellphone died. Cendoya went on to say that he and Jack attempted to find their way down the mountain, but fell and got separated.
"I just remember going into a lucid dream, I fell and I was unconscious," he said.
Dr. Stephen Desantis, Cendoya's physician, said that he showed signs of blunt-force trauma to a lung and that was most likely from the fall. It caused amnesia and an injury that allowed air to escape from his lungs and sit in the middle of his chest.
Cendoya didn't remember much after the fall, but he said that for the five days he was lost, he ate plants to stay alive. He does remember hallucinating about being stalked 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 in a separate statement released by the hospital. "I felt they were both with me, inspiring me to stay alive."
The two hikers have not been reunited yet, but Cendoya is merely happy that Jack has been found.
"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.
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