Deseret News | Lost boy uses TV show to survive

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Lost boy uses TV show to survive

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GT | 4:39 p.m. June 21, 2009

Happy Fathers Day indeed!!!! Bless his heart and our prayers were answered.

Jan | 4:51 p.m. June 21, 2009

It's nice to hear a story with a happy ending for a change.

Anonymous | 7:00 p.m. June 21, 2009

That is the cutest ending. Good that they found him.

Comments continue below

anonymas | 11:50 p.m. June 21, 2009

I was there saturday helping with a spotlights at a trail head i was so worried when they told us to go back to camp that i could not sleep, grayson was in our prayers! i was happy when we went up in the morning to hear such great news! he was one smart little boy

Hug a tree | 5:35 a.m. June 22, 2009

The tv show is for survival, not for a situation like this one. The boy should have been trained to "Hug a tree."
If he had as soon as he realized he was separated his parents would have found him before calling in the cavalry.

Stay | 5:43 a.m. June 22, 2009

I guess the show never talked bou tbeing lost that you simply stay where you are and wait for them to come and get you. Happy for the family.

Plant your backside | 6:59 a.m. June 22, 2009

If you ever get lost in the mountains STOP!!!!
THINK and stay calm!!! Look at your OPTIONS to stay dry and warm!!! PLAN what you need to do where you stand to attract attention..... This is one lucky young man and I thank God he is alright.

SLC gal | 7:55 a.m. June 22, 2009

Even though he should have stayed where he was at, that was pretty smart of him to leave a trail, when you think about it.

Lucky boy | 8:28 a.m. June 22, 2009

If this would have happend in my generation, we would have slept in the dog house with Tiger and waited for Alice the maid to find us in the morning.

Lucky to be alive | 8:50 a.m. June 22, 2009

If he got his survival tips from "Man vs. Wild", he's lucky to be alive. Most of the stuff Bear Grylls does on that show is the exact opposite of what you should do.
- Constantly jumping into rivers/lakes and finding other ways to get himself wet. In a survival situation, you should always try to stay dry.
- Moving around and travelling long distances. In a survival situation you should try to stay where you are (unless there's danger in doing so).
- Climbing things. In a real survival situation you should always avoid potential falls. Lost in the outdoors, a broken leg will likely kill you.

Man vs. Wild is a good show - I enjoy watching it - but people need to remember it's more about entertainment than a "how-to" guide on wilderness survival.

Wow | 8:51 a.m. June 22, 2009

Instead of once again finding fault, why can't we be happy that this little nine year old boy was found safely. He did what he could to survive and he did survive. Stop with all the "would haves", "should haves" and be thankful for a happy ending!

Old Geezer | 9:02 a.m. June 22, 2009

Back in the day, this was a normal activity for us kids. Why, my father would drop us off blind folded in a remote area and yell "Now find yer way home!" as he drove off. And we LIKED it!

Hunker down | 9:42 a.m. June 22, 2009

While everyone says to "hug a tree and hunker down", I'm just happy this boy watched this show and learned something useful from it. What an absolute concept! He left a trail, and actually left parts of his poncho tagged to trees. That alone tells me that what a child watch, he learns from - good or ill.

Well done in finding a happy ending to this adventure!

nerves | 11:51 a.m. June 22, 2009

I try to teach 12 and 13 year old boy scouts the same things that people are bringing up. I think it usually goes in one ear and out the other. A kid just doesn't think that it will happen to them. I think a 9 year old did pretty good. A kid that young can get themselves in a mess in a hurry. Heck, even a lot of adults don't do what they should.
Your comments though made me realize that I need to do better with my own kids at teaching tham what they should do. I drill it into those boy scouts, but I haven't done enough with my own kids.

katamb | 4:31 p.m. June 22, 2009

Old Geezer, you forgot "in 6 feet of snow with a blizzard going on." HA HA! Glad I grew up in a city!

bear grills | 8:08 p.m. June 22, 2009

I love man vs. wild and i hope this gets back to the producers of the show because the reason bear does it is for situations like this.. awesome story

in defense of Bear | 9:23 p.m. June 22, 2009

I too like Man vs. Wild... and it seems to me the show isn't wholly without merit, as some here have suggested. If you're in a situation where nobody knows where you are, and you're miles from civilization and you have little or no equipment, then Bear's approach -- hike out, despite the risks -- seems like a good one. But it's a pretty specific survival scenario; certainly not the norm. Usually people have some clue where to look for you.

As others have stated, this boy should have stayed put. But we all still rejoice that his clues led the searchers to find him, and that he's now safe with his family again. Happy ending indeed.

Dave | 12:36 p.m. June 26, 2009

Yea the story had a happy ending and that is great. However the media should not be giving credit to a tv show for saving him when the reality is that what he learned on that tv show made his situation much worse. Lets learn something from this so others wont make the same mistakes. Perhaps Bear Grylls/Discovery should release a statement clearing up the confusion and telling other kids what they should do if theyre ever lost.

Anonymous | 6:32 a.m. Oct. 6, 2009

Man vs Wild is so fake.

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