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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Tim Hanlon

Man ate worms and drank urine to survive brutal 31 days lost in the Amazon jungle

A man has told how he ate insects and worms, drank his own urine and fought off wild boars to stay alive while lost for 31 days in the Amazon jungle.

Jhonatan Acosta, 30, got lost in a mountainous area, near Baures, in Bolivia while out on a hunt with some friends on January 25 and was found a month later by rescue teams.

If confirmed it would mean that Jhonatan would be one of the longest ever lone survivors in the Amazon.

He said it was skills that he learnt during his national military service and watching survival programmes on television, that helped him keep alive.

Now he says that he is going to give up hunting and thanked God for giving him "a second chance".

Jhonatan suffered severe dehydration (Newsflash)

"My aim was to get to the river because the first 10 days I was drinking my urine and couldn’t find water or fruit … I think I passed out a couple of times,” he told Radio Panamericana.

"Out of desperation I ate worms, plants, mushrooms and anything I could find that I could eat and wouldn’t poison me … when you are hungry everything tastes good.”

He also told how he realised he was walking in circles as he tried to reach safety and one night he was attacked by wild boars who stole one of his boots but he fortunately was not injured.

"You wouldn't believe how many insects (bit me)," said Jhonatan, who is a farmer in Baures.

A search operation was launched to find him but while the weeks went by his friends and family never gave up hope that they would see him alive again.

Jhonatan before he went missing in the Amazon jungle (Newsflash)

And sure enough, a month after he went missing, on February 25, people looking for him heard him shouting.

One of the people looking for him told local media: "He bathed, we took off his boot, his feet were terrifying."

Another member of the search team said: "We always had faith. Unfortunately, he was not with a machete or a knife and his shotgun was broken, but somehow he was feeding. Thank you all very much."

His younger brother Horacio Acosta said: "On Saturday we were with the [indigenous] Ayoreos [people] and with people who came to help us. There were about 17 of us. We looked in the lake and on land...

A rescue party pictured as they looked for Jhonatan (Newsflash)

"There were four people from the town who found him, at first they were afraid of approaching him, but they found him ... I have been to those places, there are no words to explain it.

"I was on the other side of the mountain, and we had to meet for lunch. When we were at the ranch we saw a person come running and they told us that they had found my brother. And then he walked out."

Horacio said it was "a miracle", adding: "The truth is that I felt happy, relieved, very blessed. It is a miracle. We have to take advantage of this life opportunity that has been given to the whole family. We have to be united, be more together. Everything we've been through isn't pretty."

Jhonatan was taken to hospital having lost 17kg and was treated for severe dehydration as well as a dislocated toe.

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