LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A mountain biker who crawled nearly 3 miles in five days through the Daniel Boone National Forest said he was able to get just small amounts of water into his throat after his accident.
Alan Bell, 43, of Corinth, Ky., cried and spoke in a barely audible voice Monday afternoon as reporters pressed into his hospital room at the University of Kentucky Medical Center.
Mr. Bell, who works at DHL Express, was found April 3 by two mushroom hunters as he crawled on a logging road he didn't realize led to a dead end. He thought the road led to a state highway, he said.
"I heard somebody," Mr. Bell said. "I yelled, "Help.' . . . One guy said I sounded like a hoot owl." Kentucky State police said Chester Carty of Means, Ky., spotted Mr. Bell on Clear Creek Trail near the Menifee-Bath County line.
Mr. Bell's ordeal began when a limb struck his arm and caused him to fall from his bike. He was able to get back on and ride another mile, not realizing he had suffered a head injury.
"I was on top of my bike and just fell on it just like I was paralyzed and lost all the strength in my left side," Mr. Bell said.
Mr. Bell, who wears a neck brace, suffered a fracture in his neck , said his mother, Edna Bell.
"My hope was waning. Everything went through my mind . . .," said Mrs. Bell, adding that almost daily her son tells her something new about the accident. "I would have given up a long time ago." Mr. Bell said that while he did not know what was happening, he knew he had to find help.
"I was thinking that I need to keep going if I want to get out alive," Mr. Bell said, but he found that he couldn't stand or swallow.
Mr. Bell was able to get a container of water from his backpack and by swishing water around in his mouth, some of it went down his throat.
He was in serious condition upon his arrival, partly because of severe dehydration and exposure. On Monday he was in good condition. Mrs. Bell is optimistic her son will make a full recovery. He likely will leave the hospital this week to begin rehabilitation, she said.
"He has made remarkable progress," Mrs. Bell said. "He's very alert. He's retained his dry sense of humor."
Enquirer reporter Earnest Winston contributed to this report.
