Some people believe that when it’s your time to go — to leave this planet — it’s simply your time. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. It can be a scary sentiment. But on the other, more positive side, when it’s not your time, the universe will conspire to keep you here.
That was the case for a father and his teenage son who found themselves stranded in a canyon in Utah. Thankfully, fate was on their side and they were rescued from the cliffside safely.
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The father and son pair got lost while hiking in Snow Canyon State Park, CBS News reports. Without daylight to orient them, they were stranded overnight on a shallow ledge over a steep cliffside, according to the Idaho Statesman. Thankfully, amid their misfortune, they had a bit of luck. The pair found a backpack.
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Inside the bag, the father and son duo found food, water, and emergency blankets. Officials believe another hiker who had been rescued from the same area left the bag behind. In the morning, a search and rescue team from the Washington County Sheriff Department, pulled the man and his son off the side of the cliff. The group had searched for the two all night. When they found them, in the early morning, they hoisted them to safety.
Video from the rescue shows the father and son waving their hands and blankets at the helicopter as it circled overheard. Utah Highway Patrol shared video of the rescue on Instagram. Although the Utah Highway Patrol obscured the identity of the boy and his father in the video, people on social media were happy to celebrate the good work of the rescue team and the happy outcome for the father and son hikers.
“Incredible story, great rescue,” one IG user wrote.
Another offered an excellent suggestion: “Sounds like that backpack should be restocked and placed back into the canyon.”
Later, in an interview with Fox 13, the father, identified as Julian Hernandez, said without the bag, “he wouldn’t be talking about [the rescue].” Fox 13, was able to track down the original owner of the bag, 15-year-old Levi Dittman. He had gotten stuck in the same area in January. He thought the supplies he had packed had gone to waste when he had to leave the bag. “I’m really glad that it could help people because that’s what the pack was intended for,” Dittman told Fox.
