A woman who was lost and alone in the woods in Washington state for eight days before finally being found and rescued on Saturday said she relied on her faith to get through the difficult ordeal.
Kaylean Johnson, 20, found herself without food, water or shelter in the Little Naches Forest following a motorcycle accident. It all unfolded after Johnson and a family friend crashed into a ditch, KOMO-TV reported.
But when Johnson went out to look for help the day after the crash, she suddenly found herself wandering the woods, unable to find her way back to the crash site. Rather than panic, she said she decided to hold onto her faith to cope with the ordeal.
“The song, I sing it in my heart all the time, it’s ‘Jesus take the wheel,’ by Carrie Underwood,” she told KOMO. “I sung that song the night I went missing and when I got home, it came on the radio.”
Johnson was eventually rescued by a man named Matt Leonard, who happened to be marking trails as a volunteer in the area when he heard her calling for help.
She was brought to safety with nothing more than some scratches and dehydration. Thus the story — which could have had a much more tragic ending — concluded without major incident.
Johnson’s rescue came after officers from various sheriff’s offices and the U.S. Forest Service searched the area for five days, to no avail, the Yakima Herald reported. Luckily, Leonard was in the area and heard the woman’s pleas for assistance.
The man Johnson was traveling with was also found a few days earlier than she was. He, too, survived the ordeal.
Johnson’s rescue was viewed as an answer to prayer to some of her loved ones.