What began as a simple half-day hunting trip turned into a nearly three-week miracle of survival and faith for 65-year-old Ron Dailey, a man who says he lived because God led him out of the wilderness.
Dailey set out on Oct. 13 for what he thought would be a short solo hunt in California’s Sierra National Forest, a rugged region near Fresno. But when he took a wrong turn, everything changed. “I went down this hill. I’m going, ‘Oh, God, this ain’t good,’” Dailey told KCBS-TV. “So I turned around and tried to get out. I couldn’t get out.”
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That night, a snowstorm hit. Two feet of snow buried his broken-down truck and the surrounding wilderness. Alone and stranded, Dailey quickly realized the danger he was in. “Oh, man, I’m in trouble,” he recalled.
When he failed to return home, his family contacted the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, which launched a massive search across multiple counties by air and on land. Rescuers battled harsh terrain and frigid weather, but days passed with no sign of Dailey.
Meanwhile, Dailey did everything he could to survive. He rationed 14 bottles of water and about 900 calories of food. As his supplies dwindled, doubt crept in. “I didn’t know if rescue was gonna come,” he said. “Nobody really knew where I was.”
But Dailey said he was never truly alone. “It was me and God every night,” he told the station, describing how prayer became his lifeline when hope was slipping away.
Then came the turning point, what Dailey believes was a divine encounter. “God woke me up at 6:45 Saturday morning,” he said. “He goes, ‘Ron, get your boots on. Let’s go walking.’”
Following that prompting, Dailey left his truck and began walking through the snow-covered wilderness. He estimates he traveled 10 to 12 miles, stopping often to rest in the thin mountain air. He fell several times and even lost his phone along the way, but he kept walking.
Eventually, three rescuers appeared. “The Christian community just pulled together and kept praying and praying and praying,” Dailey said. “They wouldn’t let me die. Neither would God.”
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After nearly three weeks lost in the Sierra wilderness, Dailey’s rescue is being hailed as a modern-day miracle, a story of endurance, prayer and divine guidance. His words sum it up best: through every cold night and every desperate prayer, “It was me and God every night.”
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
