Mum flies to rescued Kiwi hiker
A Kiwi woman whose hike through the Californian desert turned into a mission for survival is recovering in Toronto under the watchful eye of her mother.
Claire Nelson, originally from Auckland, narrowly escaped death in May when she spent several days alone and seriously injured in the Joshua Tree National Park.
The 35-year-old lay in a dried out creek for 72 hours, alone and in extreme pain after slipping on a rock and falling several metres to the ground, shattering her pelvis.
She was forced to drink her urine after running out of water, and had little more than a T-shirt and shorts to protect her from the sun.
Nelson’s mother, Maggie Hickton, flew out from Wellington this week to Los Angeles to meet her daughter before they flew to Toronto together.
Speaking to the Herald on Sunday, Hickton said juggling wheelchairs, crutches and multiple bags on the trip had left the pair exhausted.
Pins have been inserted into Nelson’s pelvis so the broken pieces can fuse together again but they will have to find a doctor and physical therapist in Toronto to support her recovery.
“I have been very fortunate that my employer [Contact Energy] has allowed me to travel over here and spend a few weeks with Claire while still working remotely,” Hickton said.
Nelson had moved to Toronto from the UK in March but had been cat-sitting for friends in California.
Shortly after the incident, Hickton told the Herald on Sunday how her daughter had all but given up on being rescued as nobody knew she was missing.
She was due to meet someone on the Thursday, and hoped they would raise the alarm when she didn’t show.
“When no one came searching on Thursday she really felt she was going to die. She couldn’t move and the sun was fierce. At night she was petrified of the rattlesnakes and other things.”
It was on Friday, three days after her fall, that she heard a rescue helicopter overhead and her name being called over a megaphone.