Stuck in a snowdrift for nearly a week, an octogenarian survived in his car eating croissants, candy and crackers on a deserted California highway.
Jerry Jouret, who is 81, left his home in Big Pine, California on February 24 to return to his family home in Gardnerville, Nevada – just over three hours away in optimal road conditions .
According to his grandson Christian, the man thought he might outsmart the impending snowstorm that was regarding to hit the state. He was wrong.
During the drive, Jouret accidentally skidded on a smaller road and his SUV got stuck in a snow mound.
“He’s pretty short,” Christian told CNN. He doesn’t have a lot of meat on his bones.”
Jouret survived by eating the few snacks he had in his car. He rolled down his window from time to time to eat snow.
Described by his grandson as “a very smart man”, the man stayed in his car and conserved his vehicle’s gas and battery, only turning on the ignition periodically to warm himself up.
A thin quilt and a hotel bath towel were the only layers Jouret had to keep warm.
The mathematician and former NASA employee was ill-prepared for the weather, wearing only a light windbreaker, according to his grandson.
About 3 feet (7 centimeters) of snow fell during the series of storms that battered the state over the week.
Many parts of California have seen significant amounts of snow – an unusual occurrence for a state not used to harsh winters.
Harsh conditions that lasted all day knocked out power to thousands of homes, buried roads in snow and left many people, like Jouret, stranded.
In the middle of the third day, Jouret’s car battery stopped working while he rolled up the power window. She remained open a few centimeters throughout her misadventure.
On Feb. 28, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said it received “a missing person call” in a Facebook post.
Inyo County search and rescue teams scheduled search missions the next day, but were forced to delay due to safety concerns posed by the winter storm, according to a message from the sheriff’s office.
It wasn’t until March 2 that a cell phone ringtone identified by a California Highway Patrol crew helped narrow the search area. Once the weather permitted, helicopter crews were deployed.
As a team made their way to refuel the helicopter, the pilot spotted something he initially thought was a large rock. A closer look identified a vehicle – and the pilot spotted an arm sticking out of the car’s small window opening.
Jouret was only hospitalized for a few hours and showed no signs of hypothermia, his grandson said.
“The nurses were in shock at the quality of his vital signs,” said the young Jouret.
After leaving the hospital, Jouret was sent back to his home in Big Pine. He then had to take a bus back to his wife Gardnerville because the couple’s SUV got stuck in the snow.
