San Francisco:
A badly hurt missing woman who endured nine days without food in the fire-threatened Californian wilderness has been found alive in what rescuers called an "utterly amazing" story of survival.
Miyuki Harwood, 62, was taken to hospital with broken bones and severe exhaustion after going missing during a hiking trip on August 20 in an inhospitable section of Fresno County.
An increasingly desperate Harwood survived by drinking water from a creek, before rescuers located her on Saturday.
"They found her in a very remote area in the Sierra Nevada mountains on a very rocky location," Sheriff Margaret Mims said.
California Highway Patrol officer Rusty Hotchkiss said Harwood, from the California town of Orangevale, had only planned on hiking for the day and didn't have any food.
"She basically crawled from where she was injured down to a creek," Hotchkiss told CNN.
"It took her about two days to do that. And then she was able to drink from the creek with the water filter to stay alive."
Teams of search and rescue workers spent days scouring the treacherous area and their work was hampered by smoke from wildfires blazing in the region.
Search teams said finding the woman alive was a great reward.
"When you are nine days into it and really starting to wonder... and then to have such a success story is utterly amazing," officer Jim Abrams said.
Miyuki Harwood, 62, was taken to hospital with broken bones and severe exhaustion after going missing during a hiking trip on August 20 in an inhospitable section of Fresno County.
An increasingly desperate Harwood survived by drinking water from a creek, before rescuers located her on Saturday.
"They found her in a very remote area in the Sierra Nevada mountains on a very rocky location," Sheriff Margaret Mims said.
California Highway Patrol officer Rusty Hotchkiss said Harwood, from the California town of Orangevale, had only planned on hiking for the day and didn't have any food.
"She basically crawled from where she was injured down to a creek," Hotchkiss told CNN.
"It took her about two days to do that. And then she was able to drink from the creek with the water filter to stay alive."
Teams of search and rescue workers spent days scouring the treacherous area and their work was hampered by smoke from wildfires blazing in the region.
Search teams said finding the woman alive was a great reward.
"When you are nine days into it and really starting to wonder... and then to have such a success story is utterly amazing," officer Jim Abrams said.
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