A 62-year-old man has revealed how he survived in the Australian outback by eating ants after picking up the tip from TV survival expert Bear Grylls.
Reg Foggerdy, a diabetic with heart problems, went missing last month in the Western Australian desert while hunting camel. He was found after six days under a bush.
In his first interview since then, Foggerdy told Australian broadcaster 7News he ate black ants for nutrition during the ordeal.
He said he had seen former SAS soldier Grylls on TV harvesting ants to eat by poking a stick at a nest. “They had a big hole there and I got the stick and I ate quite a lot,” Foggerdy said, adding that he had given up hope of being found.
The retired miner, nicknamed “ant man” by the Australian media, added: “They tasted quite good. On the first day I had about 12 and on the second day about 18. If they want to call me ant man I don’t care,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m tough … just lucky ... I’ve heard of people dying after three days with no water; I don’t know why I survived six days.”
Foggerdy had gone hunting with his brother Ray but got lost pursuing a camel that he had shot. “I followed this camel into the bush. I’d gone at least 30km. I didn’t know where I was,” he said.
He found the dead camel, but without a knife or matches, had no means of eating it.
Foggerdy said he saw police helicopters searching for him but barely had the energy to wave for help. He was eventually found after an Aboriginal tracker spotted his footprint.
By the time police teams reached him Foggerdy’s organs had begun shutting down. “Because I’d come closer to death, now I think I’ve got a new life,” he said.
