[CH] A legitimate use for fast food hot sauce?

Rich Stevens (richstev@erols.com)
Tue, 10 Dec 2002 11:51:55 -0500 

Man Survives On Taco Sauce

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Dec. 9) - A man trapped for nearly a week in his car
after it plunged into a ravine survived in the freezing cold by burning
paper, melting snow for water and eating packets of fast-food sauce,
rescuers say.

Robert Ward, 32, suffered a broken hip in the crash and could not get out of
the car. He was found Sunday by his friend Terry Likens, captain of the fire
department where Ward is a volunteer emergency medical technician.

``I don't think he would have made it through the night,'' Likens said. ``He
told us when we found him, he said he was getting ready to go to sleep for
the last time. He had just about given up.''

Ward was in serious condition after surgery Sunday at a hospital in
Huntington. Both of his feet were frostbitten.

Ward was five miles from the coal mine where he works as a security guard
and two miles from the nearest home when his car went off the road Dec. 2.
It plunged 150 feet and hit a tree, destroying the headlights and horn.

The area's first major snowfall hit a few days later and temperatures
remained below freezing for several days. To stay warm, Ward ripped the
lining from the car's roof and used it as a blanket, Likens said.

He also burned paper, including pages from his EMT manual, and melted snow
to drink. His only food was what he could get out of an old peanut butter
jar and sauce packets from Taco Bell.

``It's a bachelor vehicle. It catches a little bit of everything,'' Likens
said.

Searchers from two volunteer fire departments, law enforcement agencies,
state natural resource and forestry workers and coal mine employees scoured
the area. A coal company donated a helicopter for the search.

As Likens and a companion searched the ravine Sunday with binoculars, Ward
heard their car and voices and started hollering.

``He asked us to pinch him so he knew he wasn't dreaming,'' Likens said.
``He said he had a lot of weird dreams while he was down there. He dreamed
two or three times when people would come by and didn't get him out.''

12/09/02 17:51 EST

Rich Stevens  http://users.erols.com/richstev/
Photo Trend Enterprises- A Restaurant Service Company
"I never have trouble getting in shape. The Greeks thought the sphere was
the perfect shape, all points being equidistant from the center. I
effortlessly tend toward perfection".