{"id":6651,"date":"2026-08-12T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651"},"modified":"2026-08-12T13:12:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:12:00","slug":"video-captures-rescue-of-river-tubing-group-stranded-for-3-days-living-off-bark-and-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651","title":{"rendered":"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

By HALLIE GOLDEN, Associated Press<\/p>\n

Pushing through dense, shoulder-high brush near a river in west Michigan, a trooper yells out: \u201cMake some noise!\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more California sets aside $250 million for public hospitals. Bay Area officials say it falls far short<\/a><\/p>\n

A boy\u2019s scream can be heard in the distance on body camera footage showing how rescue teams last week found two women and a 9-year-old boy who had been stranded for three days after their river tubing trip went wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re coming, guys,\u201d says Cameron Wright, a conservation officer from Newaygo County, his breath heard in ragged gasps.<\/p>\n

The team picks up their pace, pushing through sharp switchgrass and stinging nettle, the footage released by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources shows. A few moments later, they find Sarah Vida, 28, and her son Kayden Kovalcik, 9, along with Jazmin Hock, 28; the three are wearing just their swimming suits.<\/p>\n

Hock\u2019s legs are almost entirely covered in deep, red cuts from scrapes after trudging through the brush. They have a broken phone and a single water bottle with only a few sips left.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking about vegetation that\u2019s higher than your eyes and switchgrass that cuts you when you touch it and stinging nettles that makes your skin set on fire,\u201d Anna Cullen, a conservation officer from Muskegon County who helped with the rescue, said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The trio had been on a tubing trip on the Muskegon River in the small community of Twin Lake on Tuesday when they\u2019d hit logs and their tubes popped, according to officials. They were reported missing after one of the women didn\u2019t show up for a dentist appointment.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI was just in disbelief at finding them because we were just running out of ideas and places to search and it was nothing short of a miracle that we ended up finding them the way we did,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

For days, teams had scoured the river and rugged terrain.<\/p>\n

The group was found Friday about 7 miles from where they entered the river, according to Wright. The rescuers had tracked them from a tube next to the river, following footprints, broken twigs and bent grass.<\/p>\n

Read more San Jose announces retirement of police auditor put on sudden leave with no public explanation<\/a><\/p>\n

In the video, Kayden explains that they\u2019ve been eating bark and flowers, while Hock says they had to drink river water.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

They\u2019d been tubing down the river and kept hitting log jams, Hock explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last one that we ran into just popped everything,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

They started walking and soon realized they were going in circles, she says.<\/p>\n

Members of the rescue crew handed over their own shirts to protect them from the bugs swarming their cuts and put medical gloves on some of their hands and feet. Wright inflated his life vest for Hock to sit on. As she answered the rescue team\u2019s questions, her legs, lined with scratches, shook.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was not even an inch of their exposed skin that was not just covered in cuts and bug bites and mud and scrapes where they were just physically not able to go any further,\u201d Wright said, explaining that he still had cuts on his arms from the search.<\/p>\n

Cullen said the women later explained that when they saw the rescuers, they thought they were hallucinating.<\/p>\n

The two women couldn\u2019t walk, so the rescuers put them in Stokes baskets, a type of stretcher, to get them out of the brush, while Wright carried the boy on his back. They were taken to the hospital and treated for infections, dehydration and rashes, according to Lt. Pat Agema, a spokesperson for the Michigan State Police. As of Tuesday, they were all back home, he said.<\/p>\n

Wright said the entire hike out, Kayden was telling him about everything he was going to eat and drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just telling me about all of the root beer he\u2019s going to drink and the slushies and the pizza and doughnuts he\u2019s going to eat,\u201d said Wright.<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cYou would have no idea that he had just spent 72 hours in the woods from how happy he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more 5 teenage boys killed when car goes off Colorado cliff<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They were reported missing after one of the women didn’t show up for a dentist appointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nVideo captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"They were reported missing after one of the women didn't show up for a dentist appointment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-12T13:12:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T13:12:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651\"},\"wordCount\":726,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/95d67149ece6f2fa3954aaf24a100fcc.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651\",\"name\":\"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/95d67149ece6f2fa3954aaf24a100fcc.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T13:12:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/95d67149ece6f2fa3954aaf24a100fcc.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/95d67149ece6f2fa3954aaf24a100fcc.webp\",\"width\":1467,\"height\":978},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6651#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers - Next City Digest","og_description":"They were reported missing after one of the women didn't show up for a dentist appointment.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-08-12T13:12:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers","datePublished":"2026-08-12T13:12:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651"},"wordCount":726,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/95d67149ece6f2fa3954aaf24a100fcc.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651","name":"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/95d67149ece6f2fa3954aaf24a100fcc.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-12T13:12:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/95d67149ece6f2fa3954aaf24a100fcc.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/95d67149ece6f2fa3954aaf24a100fcc.webp","width":1467,"height":978},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6651#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Video captures rescue of river tubing group stranded for 3 days, living off bark and flowers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}