An extended-distance runner was lost for 30 days within the wilderness of Washington state before his rescue from the brink of death.
What was purported to be a day-long tour for Robert Schock, 39, became a month-long fight for his life with no food, shelter, clothing or cellphone service.
“[The ordeal] has taken its toll on me,” Schock told People, “and I’ve aged several years due to it.”
“Hopefully, I get those years back.”
The musician from Blaine, Washington had planned on a 20-mile trail run when he arrived at North Cascades National Park along with his dog, Freddy, on July 31.
“I’m an ultra runner,” Schock said in an exclusive interview. “I’m not a hiker. I don’t placed on backpacks and exit for multiple-day trips. I don’t know how one can fish. I would like to complete a course as fast as I can and are available back home. So I had no shirt. I had a pair of shorts, I had Freddy and a dog pan. These were the one items in my small backpack.”
Schock wasn’t prepared for his curiosity to guide him to date astray.
He had got down to see them for the Chilliwack River Trail by the use of the Copper Ridge Trail, traversing over the river by cable automobile. Nonetheless, his outdated map didn’t account for the wildfires in 2021 and 2022 which took out parts of the trail
“Once I got on the market, the trail was now not there,” Schock said. “I used to be curious to know what happened to this trail and my curiosity type of kept me going.”
This was the purpose at which he’d lost his way.
His cellphone died on the second day. On the third day, sent his dog to search out their home.
Schock began to lose track of time. “I wasn’t doing well.”
He found a nesting grounds formerly housed by bears. He subsisted on what he could find.
“I ate that thing all day long, and it just tasted like a traditional mushroom you’ll have on a pizza or something,” he says. “It was the one thing I needed to eat your entire time apart from berries, they were pretty nasty.”
Schock confessed that his cries for help grew less frequent because the days passed — as he began to provide up hope.
Meanwhile, on Aug. 4, the Whatcom Humane Society in Washington state called Schock’s mother, Jan Thompson, in North Carolina, reporting that they’d found Freddy but couldn’t reach Schock. Thompson realized then she had also not heard from her son after he missed her previous call on July 31.
From across the country, she had no idea her son had planned to go on a run. On Aug. 5, she called the Whatcom police department, who soon informed her his automobile had already been found.
Thompson refused to officers who suggested her son had gone into the woods on purpose. knew that wasn’t the case,” she said. “Truthfully, I never felt he had perished within the park despite the percentages.”
By day 30, he had collapsed by the bank of the Chilliwack River with severe dysentery and “really felt like I used to be near death,” he told People.
“I used to be sitting there naked and knew I wasn’t going to make it through the night,” he said. “So I used to be like, ‘I’m going to scream one last time.’ I said, ‘Help!’ ”
This time, his cries were heard: Members of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association were returning to their camp after performing maintenance work on a trail when Schock yelled for the last time.
He was soon airlifted to a hospital where he spent one other month convalescing, during which era his mother and stepfather got here to be by his side.
“I’ve learned details of his story in bits and pieces,” Thompson said. “A part of me doesn’t need to know because I can’t bear to think about how he suffered.”
Schock’s recovery continues now in Ohio where he grew up, at the house of his father and stepmother.
He told People who he plans to return to the Pacific Northwest to proceed his musical aspirations, and running — though nowhere near North Cascades, he admitted.
Of the primary responders and rescuers who found his almost lifeless body, Schock said, “It’s an understatement to say how truly thankful I’m for those people to be there that day since it got here pretty near the finish line.”
An extended-distance runner was lost for 30 days within the wilderness of Washington state before his rescue from the brink of death.
What was purported to be a day-long tour for Robert Schock, 39, became a month-long fight for his life with no food, shelter, clothing or cellphone service.
“[The ordeal] has taken its toll on me,” Schock told People, “and I’ve aged several years due to it.”
“Hopefully, I get those years back.”
The musician from Blaine, Washington had planned on a 20-mile trail run when he arrived at North Cascades National Park along with his dog, Freddy, on July 31.
“I’m an ultra runner,” Schock said in an exclusive interview. “I’m not a hiker. I don’t placed on backpacks and exit for multiple-day trips. I don’t know how one can fish. I would like to complete a course as fast as I can and are available back home. So I had no shirt. I had a pair of shorts, I had Freddy and a dog pan. These were the one items in my small backpack.”
Schock wasn’t prepared for his curiosity to guide him to date astray.
He had got down to see them for the Chilliwack River Trail by the use of the Copper Ridge Trail, traversing over the river by cable automobile. Nonetheless, his outdated map didn’t account for the wildfires in 2021 and 2022 which took out parts of the trail
“Once I got on the market, the trail was now not there,” Schock said. “I used to be curious to know what happened to this trail and my curiosity type of kept me going.”
This was the purpose at which he’d lost his way.
His cellphone died on the second day. On the third day, sent his dog to search out their home.
Schock began to lose track of time. “I wasn’t doing well.”
He found a nesting grounds formerly housed by bears. He subsisted on what he could find.
“I ate that thing all day long, and it just tasted like a traditional mushroom you’ll have on a pizza or something,” he says. “It was the one thing I needed to eat your entire time apart from berries, they were pretty nasty.”
Schock confessed that his cries for help grew less frequent because the days passed — as he began to provide up hope.
Meanwhile, on Aug. 4, the Whatcom Humane Society in Washington state called Schock’s mother, Jan Thompson, in North Carolina, reporting that they’d found Freddy but couldn’t reach Schock. Thompson realized then she had also not heard from her son after he missed her previous call on July 31.
From across the country, she had no idea her son had planned to go on a run. On Aug. 5, she called the Whatcom police department, who soon informed her his automobile had already been found.
Thompson refused to officers who suggested her son had gone into the woods on purpose. knew that wasn’t the case,” she said. “Truthfully, I never felt he had perished within the park despite the percentages.”
By day 30, he had collapsed by the bank of the Chilliwack River with severe dysentery and “really felt like I used to be near death,” he told People.
“I used to be sitting there naked and knew I wasn’t going to make it through the night,” he said. “So I used to be like, ‘I’m going to scream one last time.’ I said, ‘Help!’ ”
This time, his cries were heard: Members of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association were returning to their camp after performing maintenance work on a trail when Schock yelled for the last time.
He was soon airlifted to a hospital where he spent one other month convalescing, during which era his mother and stepfather got here to be by his side.
“I’ve learned details of his story in bits and pieces,” Thompson said. “A part of me doesn’t need to know because I can’t bear to think about how he suffered.”
Schock’s recovery continues now in Ohio where he grew up, at the house of his father and stepmother.
He told People who he plans to return to the Pacific Northwest to proceed his musical aspirations, and running — though nowhere near North Cascades, he admitted.
Of the primary responders and rescuers who found his almost lifeless body, Schock said, “It’s an understatement to say how truly thankful I’m for those people to be there that day since it got here pretty near the finish line.”
