“Survived on water and grass”: boy (5) loses mommy and roams in wilderness

A big miracle. That’s how you can call the discovery of 5-year-old Benjamín Sanchez. The boy went missing last Sunday during a family trip in the deserted province of San Juan in western Argentina and was found alive and well almost 24 hours later.

At least 21 kilometers from the place where his mother had last seen him.

Benjamín was found by a motorcyclist passing by under a tree. At that time, 1,000 police officers, civil protection employees, and volunteers were already involved in the search.

According to the savior, wild cougars would also live in the area. During the day it will be 30 degrees, but at night the temperature drops to freezing. “He was tired. The only thing he asked for was water,” said the motard.

Water from the River

“I was cold, I slept badly and leaned against a rock,” Benjamín Sanchez reveals, who only wore a T-shirt and light pants during his disappearance, told a local newspaper. He said he survived by eating grass and drinking water from a river.

“I knew that my mother was looking for me and started running. First I could hear her, but then I got lost,” the boy tells his miraculous story. “I started calling her, but she didn’t hear me anymore. I started walking towards a light that was very far away.”

Dehydrated

After he was recovered, a helicopter brought the boy, who was only dehydrated, to a hospital in the region. There Benjamín was reunited with his family and he was also visited by the provincial governor, who shared photos of the boy on Twitter. Benjamin was allowed to leave the hospital again yesterday.