Jerry Alan Jouret: California man, 81, trapped inside car during snowstorm, survives a week on snow and croissants
BIG PINE, CALIFORNIA: An 81-year-old man, who got trapped in his car after a vicious California snowstorm, reportedly survived only by eating snow and croissants for nearly a week. Jerry Alan Jouret was found on March 2 when a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew spotted him waving out his car, which was buried five feet under the snow, the Inyo County Sheriff's Office reported.
Jouret’s family reported him missing on February 28, four days after he left for a trip from Big Pine, California, to Gardnerville, Nevada, an approximately 170-mile drive. “The individual had last been heard from on the morning of Friday, February 24, before leaving Big Pine on his way to Gardnerville, with an intended route over Highway 168 due to closures on Highway 395 caused by a major winter storm.” Inyo County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on Saturday, March 07.
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“It was a miracle”
Jouret was immediately rushed to the airport to be transported to the hospital for medical care, where he was released later that day. "I just really believe it was a miracle," his brother, Joe Jouret, told Patch. "[The pilot] was about out of gas but he looked down and he saw what looked like a rock as he looked down. He had another man with him in the helicopter…and as they looked down there, it was [my brother's] car. He was almost buried in snow, but not quite. He took his hand out of the window and waved it."
Described by his grandson as “a very smart man,” Jouret told his family that he only survived by eating snow and croissants that he had in his car. He said he occasionally rolled down his car window to eat snow and used a light quilt and a hotel bath towel to keep himself warm after the temperature plummeted. “He’s a pretty small,” his grandson Christian said according to CNN, “He doesn’t have a whole lot of meat on his bones.”
“If someone gets trapped, don’t give up hope”
Christian Jouret believes that his grandfather's miraculous rescue will serve as a reminder to others of exactly how risky traveling in the winter can be, especially when it’s not something you are used to. “If someone gets trapped, don’t give up hope,” said Christian. “Some of us thought he was a goner. Never give up hope. The human body is amazing for what it can endure.”
The sheriff described the location, where Jouret got stuck as a "rough road running south of the 168 and leading into Death Valley National Park." “If it is snowing, make sure you are prepared, don’t pass road closures, and bring extra supplies with you. Or don’t travel at all and wait until roads and weather clear up,” the Inyo County Search and Rescue said in a statement on Facebook.