Amanda Eller: Hawaii hiker 'faced choice between life and death' while waiting two weeks to be rescued

Amanda Eller spoke through tears from her hospital bed of her two week ordeal.
SARAH HAYNES - FINDAMANDA
Bonnie Christian26 May 2019

Rescued hiker Amanda Eller has spoken from her hospital bed describing through tears how she faced a choice between “life and death”.

Ms Eller, 35, was found alive more than two weeks after she went missing while hiking in Maui, Hawaii.

She told reporters on Saturday the last 17 days “had been toughest days of her life”.

“It’s been a really significant spiritual journey,” she said.

Amanda Eller, 35, went missing while hiking on Maui, Hawaii
Javier Cantellops

“It did come down to life and death and I had to choose, and I chose life.

“I wasn’t going to take the easy way out, even though that meant more suffering and pain for myself.”

Ms Eller, a physical therapist, went missing on May 8. Her vehicle was found in the forest car park with her phone and wallet inside.

Hundreds of volunteers joined the search for her with Ms Eller’s parents offering a reward to encourage people to find her.

Ms Eller was found in a deep ravine between two waterfalls
Javier Cantellops

Javier Cantellops said he was searching for Ms Eller from a helicopter along with Chris Berquist and Troy Helmers when they spotted her near the Kailua reservoir, according to Maui Police Department spokesman Lt Gregg Okamoto.

Mr Cantellops told told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser she was in the bed of a creek with waterfalls on either side.

He told CNN he saw Ms Eller waving her hands at the helicopter.

Amanda Eller with family and friends after her rescue.
SARAH HAYNES Ð FINDAMANDA

"It was unbelievable, dude," Mr Cantellops said. "Seeing her for the first time in a long time was just unbelievable. It was nothing short of elation."

Ms Eller was in an area with thick vegetation, he said. "That vegetation is so thick, it's a miracle that we saw her," Mr Cantellops said.

The Maui Fire Department brought Ms Eller to hospital for evaluation.

"I was crying tears of joy," said Ms Eller's mother, Julia. "I never gave up hope for a minute. I knew that we would find her."

Julia Eller, mother of Amanda Eller said she cried tears of joy when her daughter was found.
AP

She told the Maui News that Amanda survived by staying near a water source and eating wild raspberries and strawberry guavas. She even ate a couple of moths, Julia Eller said.

Her daughter tried to catch some crawfish, but she was "not very successful", her mother said.

"She lost quite a bit of weight, as you can imagine, being lost for that amount of time," Mrs Eller said. "But she was able to survive it. She had the right skills and did the right things to buy time so that we had a chance to find her."

Ms Eller suffered a leg fracture, abrasions on her ankles and severe sunburn, but Mrs Eller told the Maui News that her daughter's spirits were good.

"And all of those things are treatable," she said.

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