A Utah hiker, who fell into a drainage tunnel and was stuck there for four days, was finally rescued on Saturday.
Thirty-three-year-old Daniel Samuelsen was hiking with a friend in the Parley Canyon near Salt Lake City last week when the pair decided to part ways, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Samuelsen then attempted to bypass a highway through a drainage tunnel, but upon entering, fell 50 feet and smashed his leg in several places. "I heard the crack," says Samuelsen. "And I put my hand down there to grab it to feel what was wrong and I could literally feel the bone protruding out of my leg."
He soon realized his cell phone was dead. The hiker shouted for help for hours and used a rock to bang on the tunnel, according to the New York Daily News, but no one could hear him.
Samuelsen lay at the bottom of the chasm for almost four days with no food or water, tortured by the sound of traffic overhead and the knowledge that rescue was less than 200 yards away. "I thought I was going to die," he told ABC News.
Eventually, Samuelsen found a piece of wood and built a splint for his leg, according to the New York Daily News. He crawled to the nearest highway -- it took two hours.
"I was near tears when someone finally stopped. I clasped my hands together and was like 'thank you, thank you,'" Samuelsen said during an interview with ABC News. "I was so happy to see somebody who cared enough about me to stop and realize I needed help."
The hiker was admitted to St. Mark's Hospital with a compound fracture in his right leg and severe dehydration, according to ABC News. "He has had surgery for his wounds and is doing OK at this point," a hospital representative told reporters.