A travel writer has spoken out about how she was forced to drink her own urine to survive in the Californian desert after a devastating fall left her with a broken pelvis.
Writing exclusively for The Sun, Claire Nelson, 37, revealed how she was hiking alone in Joshua Tree when she fell and shattered her pelvis back in 2018.
The London-based writer had been traveling around Canada, when some friends in Joshua Tree invited her to house-sit for them two months later. Jumping at the chance, she headed down to the property, confident that she would be safe on her on.
On May 22, 2018, Nelson set off for a seven-mile hike into the valley towards an oasis of palm trees.
However, the idyllic walk soon turned life-threatening, as Nelson slipped and fell 25-feet off a pile of boulders she was climbing.
She recalls: "My pelvis shattered on impact, causing indescribable pain. I realized I couldn’t move from the waist down and was unable to sit or stand."
To make matters worse, Nelson had no cell phone signal, and had not told anybody where she was going.
"I began to realize that my chances of dying were high, but as I pictured my family and friends, I knew I had to stay calm to make rational decisions," Nelson said.
Nelson revealed how she used her hiking stick to apply sunscreen to her legs, and created a makeshift shade out of a stick and plastic bag. However, as a result of the 104-degree heat, after just 24 hours, Nelson's water was running low.
In an effort to quench her thirst, Nelson recalls being forced to drink her own pee.
"I had to drink my urine, collecting it in a paracetamol jar and saving it up in my empty bottle to drink," she recalled, adding: "It made me gag, but at least it offered a little hydration."
After four days stranded in the desert, Nelson says she "truly believed" she was going to die.
"As I drifted in and out of consciousness, I imagined my shattered bones decaying in the dusty valley."
Fortunately, out of nowhere, Nelson heard a voice - it was coming from a rescue helicopter. "The friends I was house-sitting for had called them," she said.
Nelson was transported to a hospital in Palm Springs, where she received treatment in the ICU.
She left the hospital on June 11 and returned to Toronto, where her mom took her back to New Zealand that August. But her recovery was far from over.
"I had to learn to walk again, but was on my feet after just over six months," she said.
The picture below was taken "five minutes" before her fall:A week after her fall, Nelson took to Instagram, to share the following message with her followers, detailing "the most difficult trek of her life". She wrote:
"A week today I was hiking confidently through the desert to find an oasis. Today I tried to shuffle 5ft to the bathroom with a walking frame and the assistance of a physical therapist and it was the most difficult trek of my life. I cried.
"I am literally learning to walk again. As an active and independent person I am really struggling with this sudden and shocking change, but I remind myself I am alive. That I must channel despondence into determination.
"If the last week has taught me anything it’s that I am capable of patience and perseverance - and that they do pay off."
Last year, Nelson was able to revisit California and finally finish the hike she had started. She wrote on Instagram:
"Finished the unfinished hike. The hike that almost finished me. Learned from my failures and finally succeeded. Thankful doesn’t even begin to cut it. Felt a Sliding Doors effect in this moment: what could’ve been and what actually came to be. What a perfect day to meet the Palms at last."
Nelson has since written a book about her fall, titled Things I Learned From Falling. She also revealed how the near-fatal incident has changed her relationships with others. She said:
"After the accident, I got a renewed perspective on life. While I still take antidepressants, I realized I’d been putting up walls as a way of protecting myself from getting hurt, which had left me feeling lonely. I knew it was time to open up and let people in."
