tiffany_slaton_press_conference.txt

Sheriff (00:00): Well, good morning. Uh, thank you for being here today. We are
here today to talk about an incredible story, a heroic story, uh, something
that you may see on TV that they would make movies about. But this story
involves a young lady named Tiffany Slaton who on her journey through the
Sierra Nevadas here in Fresno County, it is truly an incredible story of
perseverance, determination. And survival. Uh, this young lady from about April
14th, all the way through Easter was on her way up through the shaver and
Huntington Lake areas. At one point, uh, she spoke with some people at
Huntington Lake near the China Peak Landing and talked to some folks, and, uh,
she was on her electric bike with all of her equipment, and there were some
other individuals that did not have electric bikes. They commented on her
electric bike, but this young lady made it up, uh, Kaiser Pass Road. All the
way over the top of Kaiser Pass, which is a peak that's over 9000 ft high. She
went all the way back on that road toward the high Sierra Ranger Station to an
area where you call it the Y or the fork in the road where to left is Mono Hot
Springs and Edison Lake or what we also refer to as Vermillion Valley, and to
the right was to Florence Lake. She traversed this area. And uh following her
uh GPS and some other things and lost cell phone service. At one point, she
took a very significant fall off the side of a mountain. And had to actually
give herself first aid and splint uh her leg due to this severe fall. And as we
spoke to Tiffany about this just remarkable story, thinking of going over
Kaiser Pass, and there is somewhere between 10 and 12 ft of snow, the road
hadn't even been plowed yet at the time that she went over. It wasn't plowed
until somewhere around Monday, the 1 12th or Tuesday, May 13th. And then, after
crossing Edison Lake, uh, the lake's low right now, there's some, uh, what we
call like little islands that cross the lake. She made it to the what we call
sort of the north side of the lake and then continued hiking all the way back
to an area near Golden Lake. And if you look on a map, Golden Lake is not far
from Rock Creek Lake, and she was about anywhere from 0.5 mile to 1 mile from
the Mono County, Inyo County line, but still in Fresno County. Hiking up peaks
as high as 11,000 to 11,200 ft. Just an absolute remarkable story. Uh, her bike
was left at a sign, uh, for the trailhead for Hopkins Lake. And so once the
snow melts and we have an opportunity to get up there, we will be, uh,
Attempting to retrieve her bike for her because that bike is what she said
during her story is really what helped propel her on this journey and got her
through the snow and, and kept her going. And then obviously, on May 14th, when
the owner of the Vermillion Valley Resort was able to get in because the road
had been plowed over Kaiser, he saw a pair of shoes outside of one of his
cabins at Vermillion Valley Resort that he leaves open, which is at Edison
Lake, and lo and behold, he observed Tiffany there, alive, uh, battered,
bruised, obviously dehydrated, but she was, in fact, Remarkably and really,
truly probably a miracle that she was alive and then we were able to respond
and to my left today, we have Tiffany here. She's uh she's wearing sunglasses
after being out in the snow for that long and the extreme sun, it did some
possible damage to her eyes, so that's, that's why she's here wearing
sunglasses. She's going to get up and talk in a minute and she's going to tell
you about her story of perseverance, of determination, of not giving up, and
just continuing the fight and just having that belief that she was going to be
found or be rescued and eventually that day came. Thankfully, when the road was
plowed and the owner of Vermillion Valley Resort came and saw Tiffany there at
the resort. So at this point, I will go ahead and have Tiffany come up and she
will share a little bit of her story as well.

Tiffany (4:30): Hello. Um, I didn't really come up with anything that's super
planned for this. It's literally only been two days, um, but I will do my best
to answer any questions that you may have. Um, when I started, I had pretty
much fallen off of a cliff trying to go on vacation for the first time. Um, I
may never do a real vacation longer than 3 days ever again. Um, when I fell off
of this cliff, I was unconscious for about 2 hours and did indeed have to
split, splint one of my legs and pop the other knee back into place. Um, from
there I couldn't actually. Get back onto the road. The main road was blocked
because of the avalanche that I've been in, and of course like a normal person,
you're the first thing you're supposed to do is call 911 and I attempted that
45 times with no avail, um, and eventually got mad at my GPS and decided to
ask, well, where's the nearest Starbucks? He was like, oh well, we can answer
that question. It's 18 miles from here. Uh, you can't give me 911. You can't
get me GPS, but you can get me a Starbucks. Um, yes, yes, we can. It's also a
shorter distance than trying to find the entrance, and in doing so I ended up
on this very long arduous journey that I journaled to try and keep saying. Um,
and eventually managed to get to civilization. I Haven't really gone through
all of the details. I ran out of a lot of food after 5 days, um, but I will do
my best to answer any questions that you may have.

Reporter (6:25): What did you eat? I mean, you were in the elements for how
many days and what did you eat, and did you ever at any point think I'm not
gonna make it?

Tiffany (6:35): Um, well, the worst thing that you can do in an emergency
situation is panic. Um, I'm a traveling dialysis technician and an archery
coach by trade. I didn't want to panic. In the 1st 5 days, I was still ready
for my vacation. I had some of Fresno's best citrus, which is funny because I'm
kind of allergic to it at that point at that point, but I did have food to
begin with, but I'm a trained permaculturalist. Um, that means I'm very good at
foraging and helping people not go to the grocery store in very rural areas,
um, and the Sierras has a large selection of leeks that is hard to find in
other places, um, in case you don't know what that is, it's sort of a green
onion. And I managed to survive off of these leaks and boiling the snow melt
for a very long period of time actually and I journaled it. I think I've been
out maybe 20, 23 days on this.

Reporter (7:38): And you slept outside, or did you have any cover at all?

Tiffany (7:41): At the beginning, um, I was coming to try and do a camping
trip, so I had two sleeping bags and a basic tent. Uh, but at the end, after
fighting nature for such a long time, I, I lost my tent, I lost my vestibule,
uh, and I did eventually lose both sleeping bags, so I was outside with nothing
but a lighter and a knife.

Reporter (8:06): Tiffany, after many days, how do you avoid death to survive?

Tiffany (8:11): How did I avoid death? I'm pretty good at foraging, and nature
is quite terrifying. So usually once you start finding things that are scary
for you, you do your best to keep moving and get over it, and because of the
mountains, I literally got over quite a few of them.

Reporter (8:32): Tiffany, the sheriff mentioned that you have something called
ballerina syndrome. Is that accurate? And if so, what does that do in terms of
making it difficult to hike?

Tiffany (8:40): Ah, so ballerina syndrome, uh, is, is a deb -- it's a syndrome
that involves kind of what's known as a high arch. I'm unable to keep my
feet... on -- I can -- can't keep my heels on the ground for more than 3
inches. And it kind of looks like this.

Reporter (9:01): Is that from dancing?

Tiffany (9:03): Not from dancing, I was born with this syndrome, and what it
does is over time you end up not being able to keep your heels on the ground.
So things like snow shoes are not something I can find because, well, stilettos
are not exactly the best of athletic wear, um, but I tried my best to find what
I could and found a pair of heels made out of leather.

Reporter (9:26): Tiffany, how grateful are you of that man who, you know, left
that door open for people just like you, people who needed it, how grateful are
you?

Tiffany (9:33): I, I honestly do not think that without -- without Vermillion
resort, I would not be here at that moment because that was the 13th heavy
snowstorm I had been in and it was going to be the last one. If he hadn't have
come that day, they would have found my body there.

Reporter (9:55): What injuries did you sustain?

Tiffany (9:58): Um, I've got into an avalanche and two landslides in the
process. When I came into the hospital somehow because of the foraging, my
blood work was perfect, um, but I did have a lot of micro cuts. I have a lot of
burns, uh, but nothing that I don't think time will be able to heal.

Reporter (10:21): And you were able to be found just in time for your birthday,
how does that feel for you, and do you have anything to celebrate? I mean, your
parents are here?

Tiffany (10:29): Uh, that was actually my goal when I ended up on some of those
mountains was I did not want to celebrate a birthday. Um, away from my family,
so I had made it a point to try and find some sort of building before the 13th
because the last things that I had for food in my bag was a Dunkaroo packet
because it was the closest thing to a cake I had. It was 3 -- 3 cookies and a
packet of icing. And a lovely lady had given me some elderberry syrup, and I
really wanted to enjoy that on my birthday as hopefully part of a sandwich.

Reporter (11:12): I've seen shows like Survivor Man and things like that and,
and generally think about somebody being a certain physical type -- I wouldn't
necessarily look at you and say that's a person that can last 3 weeks, and yet
here you are. To what do you attribute this ability to survive in the worst
conditions?

Tiffany (11:26): Well, while it may not look like it, I am a pre-Olympian for
archery and in the islands, I am number 2 in the world's islands for archery.
Um, in an archery session for 2 hours, we walk the equivalent of 5 miles and
lift the equivalent of 2 tons. So my body type is not necessarily going to look
like a boxer's, but it is indeed an athlete's.

Reporter (11:53): Did you see anything remarkable on your journey, anything
that stood out to you that you remember? Like animals, any encounters with
animals?

Tiffany (12:00): I did indeed see every type of animal or come across every
track for animals that could possibly be found in the Sierras, including a sort
of mountain goat that I have not yet identified because I haven't had a chance
to look at the prints. It's only been day 3.

Reporter (12:17): Do you remember what day it was that your mind shifted of "I
need to survive, and I need to keep going and not give up" -- do you remember
what day it was?

Tiffany (12:26): Uh, day one, once you fall off of a cliff and your parents are
in the back of your mind from different issues, uh, I necessarily would have
said that I would rather -- (laughs) -- I can't say rather die because I
didn't. I would rather live than have to deal with my parents seeing that I
failed in such a dumb way.

Reporter (12:48): Do you have siblings?

Tiffany (12:49): I have 2 brothers, yes.

Reporter (12:52): What have your brother said about you?

Tiffany (12:55): Um, both of my brothers are military and that is not something
that I wish to put on television. Um, they are not the adventurous type. We'll
put it like that. Um, I don't believe that doing mountaineering is something in
my brother's futures.

Reporter (13:13): Will you ever do this again? Will you go alone on an
excursion like this again?

Tiffany (13:18): If it was something that benefited my family like a television
show called Alone, I may attempt it in order to benefit my family's economy,
yeah.

Reporter (13:28): Was it um, well, so what day did you actually start foraging
and get off the roads? Did you leave your bike with the intention of coming
back to it, or were you leaving it there to come back, you know, weeks or
months later after you've gone?

Tiffany (13:41): So foraging is kind of, it's almost like going through the
grocery store. Eventually you start -- boys check out chicks, foragers check
out things that you could possibly eat in emergency situations. So at the
beginning I had already started trying to supplement the things that I knew I
wanted to eat, uh, with things that I had found in the environment. Uh, one of
my favorite things to do because I am Bermudian American is part of the British
culture is a lot of tea. Um, manzanita and pine needles is one of the most
delicious herbal tinctures that I could probably come across, and it was very
relaxing. Um, if it wasn't for the life or death situation, I probably would
have really enjoyed that aspect.

Reporter (14:28): You made a fire to make tea every day?

Tiffany (14:31): Um, I did indeed make tea every day partially because of my
Britishness, um, but the other reason is when you're unable to collect a lot of
carbs, the next best thing that you can do is is to uh create a stockpile of
micro minerals and vitamins so that you don't fall out.

Reporter (14:51): Did you, did you have survival gear with you to make a fire
and things like that?

Tiffany (14:55): I had brought basic camping gear because this journey was only
supposed to be a three-day vacation.

Reporter (15:01): What went through your mind when you stumbled upon that
cabin? I mean, what were you feeling at that moment?

Tiffany (15:06): Uh, that was one of the heaviest snowstorms I had seen. I had
actually gotten very lost at that point and didn't recognize that I was back at
Edison Lake. I only saw white upon white in that storm, uh, it. It was a little
bit weird, but when I first came across it, it was a pristine Christmas tree
and a tiny house and it had markers like Santa's sleigh, and I could not
understand. I actually thought I was losing my mind at that point that I had
somehow managed to make it to the North Pole. So I was not necessarily sure
what I had come across, but when the door opened and I saw the best sleeping
bag I had ever seen in the world, I, I wasn't necessarily thinking, oh my
goodness, I'm rescued. I thought "it's a dry bed."

Reporter (16:02): When you saw your parents in the first, for the first time
when they arrived here in California, Did you do? What did you say? Tell me
about that.

Tiffany (16:08): Uh, at, at yesterday on my birthday, which is when I got to
see them, I was not necessarily at the point of rescue. Most people think that
once you've managed to make it to civilization, that the journey is over. But
recovery doesn't start happening until your body is fully capable of being able
to digest and at that point I hadn't been able to digest anything. I could eat,
I could drink, but nothing was, nothing was leaving my body, and it's one of
the number one killers for people, um, is actually just trying to not have
problems in the bathroom. So I was very happy to see them, but I was intensely
nervous because I hadn't made that transition yet.

Reporter (16:55): So how are you feeling now? How are you feeling?

Tiffany (16:58): I'm doing much better. My digestive system has started
functioning very well. Um, I'm hoping that I'll see progress very quickly. Um,
my parents have told me that a lot of people have helped me to collect some
funds for recovery, and I'm really looking forward to the recovery process.

Reporter (17:24): You're looking at your daughter with such pride, and I
understand that. It's your only daughter and she's apparently a better
survivalist than your sons.

Father (17:37): Well, we're not gonna say she's better. We'll say that they,
we, we try to prepare them for whatever the adventure of life will, will send
their way.

Reporter (17:50): Your journey must have been horrible waiting for that
horrible phone call that you thought might happen. Did you think the call was
going to come and it was going to be terrible news?

Father (17:58): Um, we're, we're more optimistic than that. Um, we know our
children, we know their capabilities to, to be able to survive. Um, our
children, we're, we've always been outdoor people, um. Let me rephrase that. My
children and my wife are more outdoor people. Um, I would be more comfortable
sitting inside an air conditioning in a, in a condo. However, we raised our
kids to be outdoor camper type people. Um, Tiffany got the love of, of foraging
and gardening and plants and bonsai-ing. From her mother and I, because that's
what we do on our farm. We have a micro farm in Georgia. So that's where it
started. Now my boys, They go to, they, they enjoy like most boys, they enjoy
the military side of things, so they enjoy, you know, tearing stuff up and
that's what they that's, that's who they are.

Reporter (19:04): Tell me a little bit about what was going through your mind
when you Got the news Tiffany was fine.

Mother (19:11): Tiffany was fine? "Oh my God", I mean that's basically what I
can say. I mean we were at, of all places, good Goodwill trying to get some
clothes because we had heard it was really cold here and where we are it's
really, it's really hot. So, he comes and he gets on the phone, he's like, "I
heard Tiffany," and ran off, and I am just there crying and I'm trying to
figure out, did he just say that and a woman walks past me and I just say, "can
I hug you?" And I hugged her and I cried. It, it was the most joyous occasion I
think any mother could have. I would think anybody that knew their daughter was
missing in a mountain or wherever she was, you would love to have them back and
that it just, it broke my heart. But it was the, the most joyous, um, thing
that I could ever have experienced.

Reporter (20:13): What was it like to see your daughter when you arrived?

Mother (20:17): Oh my God, I want, I had so many ideas. Jumping her and holding
her, you know, you wanna just do all those things, but because um the moment
was hers and she was going through some things herself, we didn't have that
moment, but that, just to hold her, she was just, she wanted to hold us, she
wanted to hold her mom and dad and I took it in and I'm just glad to to see
her, to know that she's alive and, um, to smell her, you know.

Reporter (20:48): Was she in the hospital when you saw her?

Mother (20:49): No, she was somewhere else and we had placed her in a hotel
just to keep her safe. Um, she was out of the hospital at the time.

Reporter (20:56): You must be so proud.

Mother (20:57): I am very proud. I mean, as a parent, we always say, you know,
we're we have adult kids, we can't control them. They can do whatever they
wanna do, um. But I'm very proud that she stood her own. I'm proud that she's
back, but I will be prouder when she gets a GPS. So that'll be much better. We
were talking about garments and different other things, but I wouldn't be much.
She could do whatever she wants to do, but just get some kind of GPS, and then
we can talk every day.

Father (21:28): We, we don't keep our kids locked down. This is not a Time for
us to lock her in, back in twigs. Um, we'd love to have her back home, when
she's home, but her adventure is far from over.

Reporter (21:43): So what's happening next, I know she was heading to medical
school, is that correct?

Mother (21:47): That's completely up to her. We have no idea. We are standing
back. We're like you guys. What you gonna do next, you know, but whatever she
decides to do, whatever she decides to do, we will be next to her 100%.

Reporter (22:00): So y'all are going to head back to Georgia and just have some
family time?

Father (22:03): Most certainly we will definitely be going back to Georgia, um,
to our little, little town that we enjoy so much, Lakes County.

Reporter (22:10): All three of you are going back?

Father (22:12): Oh yeah, oh yes, even if, even if I have to tie her down, she's
coming back home for, and, and I say that jokingly, but it's so that she has
time to recuperate so that she can go back out and do another type of adventure

Mother (22:26): with GPS

Father (22:27): with GPS.

Reporter (22:28): What's this experience done for you guys and your belief for
God?

Father (22:32): Oh my gosh.

Mother (22:34): Um, as far as God, we, we've always been people who believe in
God. That, that's not gonna change. Um, community, I could tell you the
community here and around the world, so many people got in contact with us,
checking on us, just loving on us, and I just totally appreciate every single
person who reached out to us. I love people. There's just, I don't care and
I've said it so many times. I don't care where you're from, what you look like.
I don't care if you're religious or not. People, there are good people
everywhere and for whatever reason, and I'm gonna say God. But he always
connects us to good people and so I'm gonna take it. I'm glad that he gives it
to us up days, down days, bad days, good days. We're gonna all go through every
single one of us are gonna go through a bad day, but that doesn't mean that
there's not a ray of sunshine somewhere and everybody in the community around
the world showed us the ray of sunshine when I couldn't see it at all. So I, I
definitely want to thank them for that and I thank you for the prayers. And I'm
just so grateful and I'm so thank you and the police department and everybody
that helped, we were here and crying earlier. I just, I love every single one
of these people that were out there helping to find Tiffany, and some here even
doing it on their days off over time. This is just the best community of people
that I have ever met, and I just wanna say I am grateful and thank you God for
everything.

Reporter (24:14): So, Bobby, you mentioned that Tiffany called you and said
"I'm sorry", and like any child, we're  scared our parents are gonna get, are
gonna be upset. Um, I mean at this point I feel like you can't, you can't be
mad, but as a child it's like "uh, my dad's gonna be mad at me", what are you
doing about that?

Father (24:33): So when I got the phone call. I really didn't, I didn't know
who it was on the other line. Um, my, my daughter was in, my daughter is lost
and we're trying to find her and I was already warned that, you know, maybe
somebody will call and pretend to be her to try to get you, give you false hope
or get the attention that that comes with that. Um, so I asked her. OK, so who
is this? And she says, "It's me, dad. I'm sorry. I'm not dead." That was the
best feeling. That was the best gift that I could have ever gotten. These kids
that I have are, are the, my wife, they're the reason why I breathe and the
possibility and the thought that she might not come home. Yeah, that, to hear
her voice. Um, it was really tough, but it was the best toughness that I could
have ever experienced. And yes, I guess a person could have been mad at that
particular point, but You can't be mad at that. You can't be mad at that. And
yes, I did go into, into the store and say, hey. I just spoke to Tiffany and
yes, I ran off because at that particular moment I remembered that I need to
call the sheriff department to let them know that I just spoke to my lost
daughter.

Reporter (26:20): Can I just have a question for you, sheriff, if you don't
mind? Um, y'all were on days searching for Tiffany. How close was she in, you
know, relations to where she was found? Do y'all search -- where did that match
up?

Sheriff (26:35): Well, that's, that's a good question because we had had
sightings from different individuals and we'd obviously had some video from uh
the China Peak landing, which is at Huntington Lake. Um, not really that close.
Uh, Kaiser Pass was impassable. We had gone up there with some of our
off-highway vehicles with tracks on them and couldn't make it. We had Eagle One
fly uh into the Edison Lake area of Vermillion Valley Resort to check it out,
but, uh, we were not really looking that that was not an area that You would
have anticipated or expected someone to be, and that is what really makes this
story so remarkable and as Fredrina said, and you know, their belief in God and
the fact that it's a miracle, when she was getting a notification that the
Starbucks off of the 395 highway in Inyo or Mono County was closer than even
getting back to Huntington Lake. That just goes to show you how far out there
she was. I mean, in this time of year with the snow and everything, which is
not an area that you would anticipate anyone to be. As far as we know, people
are not really even hiking the Pacific Crest, John Muir Trail in this area
right now because of weather and because of snow. So, Just completely, uh, I
mean truly a miracle that the road was plowed on Tuesday and that this
individual that runs the Vermillion Valley resort got in there and was able to
make contact with Tiffany on Wednesday. I mean, it's truly, you know, as she
said in her story, there was 12 to 13 snowstorms, anywhere from 10 to 12 ft of
snow at different points as you go through these high peaks. And for that to
all come together on that day is, is just truly a, a miracle. This is you, you
have to believe that, that God had a hand in saving Tiffany and getting her
home and getting her here with us today.

Reporter (28:28): And is this something that your department has ever
experienced before, this kind of miracle?

Sheriff (28:33): You know, not that I can think of after this many days, uh,
that she was out there and we started our search on May 1st and then obviously
on May 14th, on Wednesday is when she was located at Vermillion Valley Resort.
When you think about the weather and you think about the altitude, the
elements, and everything that she was in. And then obviously, if you can look
at this on a map and going back to the Hopkins Lake trail and where we're gonna
go recover her bike from where her bike was left. I mean, it's a very, very
remote area. There's, there's no real roads in the area. There might be a few
little forest service or logging roads here and there, but it truly is a story
of survival and determination by Tiffany. There's no other way I can explain
it. I've worked for the sheriff's office for almost 30 years. I've grown up
here. I spent a lot of time up in that area. I would have never anticipated her
in my wildest dreams being able to get back as far as she did, but now we know
this is something that we will learn from in the future. Expect the unexpected.

Reporter (29:36): Can we have Sergeant Scott Weishaar real quick

Reporter (29:42): Scott has extensive background in search and rescue and he
helped set up this mission, um. I figured you kind of put it in the context of
how incredible this is.

Scott (29:52): Yeah, uh, she truly has an absolutely amazing story of survival.
Um, and last, my last 15 years on search and rescue, we haven't. Experienced
anything close to this. Um, as far as you talked about how close she was to our
research area, uh, we use uh past missing person behavior. There's a lot of
literature out there on what people typically do in certain situations. She was
so far off the spectrum with that, that, that, it was, it was absolutely crazy.
Um, the search areas we had, we have volunteers, and we had a lot of our
neighboring counties coming in assisting. And uh after reviewing our tracks, we
drove or walked over 4300, 4300 miles looking for and when you have a search
area that's almost 700 square miles, it's It's hard to narrow down the exact,
the exact location.

Reporter (30:59): What was your reaction when Christopher called you and said
"hey, I have Tiffany"? I know you guys had just scaled back the search, so how
was that feeling?

Scott (31:10): Uh, the happiest I felt in a long time, and I think our, our
whole agency felt the same way. Everyone was texting each other, everyone was
calling each other. Um, absolutely just an amazing feeling.

Reporter (31:26): Tiffany, I know you're still recuperating, and, you know,
getting back to yourself, but, you know, what did you take away from this? Will
you never forget this experience for the rest of your life?

Tiffany (31:40): Well, one of the biggest things that you get a lot of time to
do when you're on a mountain literally by yourself is you start thinking sage
like thoughts about what can you do to make the world a better place or how can
you make an impact in a positive way. Uh, I have gotten to meet some of
America's best humans outside of all of the political jargon that you see on
television. I now believe in different types of humans and as much as I have
missed my first chance of going to medical school, I do have a feeling that the
healthcare world is going to see me again.

Reporter (32:24): Is your eyesight permanently damaged? Are you going to
recover, are you going to be okay?

Tiffany (32:29): Based on what the doctors have told me, it may be repairable.
I will have to see about it in the future with some of these recovery processes
that my parents are going to have to help me with.

Reporter (32:42): Like surgery, or what?

Tiffany (32:43): Maybe not surgery, but it is gonna take a long time for these
kind of conditions to actually just work themselves out, and I haven't had a
chance to see a doctor. Uh, the big reason that I kept moving in the first
place is my parents are not the richest people in the world, uh, so it will
take a while for me to figure out who I need to see, how much that's going to
cost, and what some of those logistics are.

Reporter (33:10): So, is it like a pseudo-blindness, is that what you would
liken it to?

Tiffany (33:14): I think that when I was being checked out by the doctor,
partially because of my forging, they were really shocked about how good my
numbers were, um, but I'm confident that it's around 10 or 20% of snow
blindness that I did receive. I'm not sure what the rest of it looks like
because I may have been an aspiring med student, but I'm not a doctor just yet.

Reporter (33:39): Um, Tiffany, do you still have your journals, Tiffany?

Tiffany (33:42): Uh, I do. I haven't gone through it yet because I have to
figure out how to open doors first.

Reporter (33:48): Tiffany, do you think you will start book, writing a book
about your story?

Tiffany (33:56): I don't know. I, I may think about that.

Reporter (33:59): Christopher mentioned that the first thing you asked for was
a peanut butter jelly sandwich -- I'm allergic to peanut butter, but I can only
imagine you craving that.

Tiffany (34:09): So when you're hiking in general, the first thing that all of
the professionals tell you is that you want to make sure to keep a lot of carbs
and a lot of proteins. There's a couple of different -- I am a nutritionist --
but there's a couple of different ways that you are able to power your body for
a long period of time. The one thing that I was unable to purchase when I
started was a loaf of bread. So the entire time that I was going, I kept trying
to figure out. What can I forage to make carbs and at the end, all I wanted was
a sandwich. Um, now that I've had leeks and water for such a long time, it's
almost like I've never had food before. So when I got to Vermillion Resort and
Raven and the guys gave me some of what they had brought, uh, I had a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich and it was the best PB&J I've ever had.

Reporter (35:10): And you mentioned that you wanted to go to Mono Hot Springs,
how was your experience? I know it's probably not what you pictured.

Tiffany (35:18): I actually missed it. The avalanche happened before I got a
chance to even see it, so I'm hoping that eventually I'll get a chance to come
and see it. A) with a GPS and B) uh, probably with a car, so that I don't have
to have so many issues.

Reporter (35:38): Tiffany, real quick, the Royal Gazette messaged me out of
Bermuda. They want to know, do you have a message to the people of Bermuda.

Tiffany (35:46): I, I will be back for archery quite soon and I do hope that
you're looking forward to seeing me.

Reporter (35:54): Was Mono Hot Springs where you had planned to go, was that
your original destination? And also, was it on the 25th that you had kind of
left the trail, or first started on the trail, to get out there?

Tiffany (36:04): I, there's a lot of different talk around the time frame that
people think that they've seen me. Uh, I'm a high-level archery coach as well
as an athlete, and the only day that I had to start for my vacation was
actually the 20th on Easter. Um, that was the day that I went up. I'm not the
type of person to come back until I have at least tried to take a vacation
because I am a healthcare professional. I had just finished being, for lack of
a better term, burned out from doing a few jobs, and I was adamant about at
least trying a vacation once. I don't believe I'll do a long one ever again.

Reporter (36:50): Are you on the archery team in Bermuda? Explain.

Tiffany (36:55): Uh, in order for you to be a member of Bermuda's archery team
or the United States archery team, you have to participate for a certain time
frame, uh, because of COVID and my parents that I love very much being so high
risk during COVID, I stepped off of the field. Uh, they needed someone to buy
groceries and to be able to take care of the household in places they couldn't
go Uh, I still am that person as the oldest child. I, I will be attempting to
recontinue the circuit though soon because if it wasn't for my skills in
archery and the experience I had in Bermuda in order to compete, I don't think
I would have been able to walk as many miles a day as I did.

Reporter (37:46): Um, from the day you got rescued till today, to this very
moment. Have you had any time to just like sit there by yourself or just think
to yourself, "hey, I'm, I'm here, I made it, my parents are right there." I
mean, just to reflect?

Tiffany (38:00): Well, my first day was actually in the hospital. I had heard
of people that had been rescued before me, the only person that I've heard of
that had kind of, I don't want to call it the record, but the person that had
lasted was 9 days and they were skin and bones. I was expecting tests and being
hooked up to saline and within 5 hours they had already said, well, we're just
gonna check you out, so go find a hotel.

Reporter (38:31): Did you lose weight?

Tiffany (38:33): Um, I've lost about 5 kilos. Um, but my blood work is
apparently better than before I. Even started, so I'm a little confused and
maybe my skills are just that good.

Reporter (38:49): So you lost about 10 pounds?

Tiffany (38:50): Oh, uh, yes, I think so. So I'm working on, on that along with
a couple of the other recovery items. I can't really rush that process, at
least that's what I've been told by professionals.

Reporter (39:01): How did you make that phone call?

Tiffany (39:04): I had gotten in contact with the owners of Vermillion resort.
They're wonderful people. Raven managed to remind me that, you know, a phone is
kind of an important aspect. When I had gotten into the avalanche, I had lost
mine. Um, and he let me borrow it, and the first thing that I could think of
was the 10 things that I wanted to do if I managed to survive, and one was to
tell my parents that I loved them. I also didn't want to die because I did not
have a GPS.

Reporter (39:43): What was the, you say you witnessed so many different kind of
animals. Talk to us a bit about that. I mean, did you see a bear?

Tiffany (39:51): Well, bears are kind of common in the Sierras. I did not do --
I did my best not to participate too often with the animals. Keeping moving in
an emergency situation -- outside of when you're supposed to stay put -- is
very important. A couple of the animals I'm not very familiar with the names of
because I'm from an island. We don't have mountain lions in Bermuda. But I did
come in contact with those and after talking with Raven about some of the
things that I had heard of, he's one of the owners for Vermillion Valley. Um, I
did come in contact with, uh, I think it's a mountain goat of some sort. Um, I
thought it was a pack of wild dogs at first, but there's also no dogs in the
Sierras, so those are coyotes. I, I don't really want to focus too much on a
lot of it because most of the time for foraging, you're not supposed to hunt
when you're on these trails, but when you do manage to find food, the animals
are also in competition with you and on many occasions I fought nature and
lost. Yeah, so I'm not, I'm not super excited to identify all of them just yet.

Reporter (41:09): Um, is this your first time in California?

Tiffany (41:12): Uh, I, uh, like I said before, I'm a high level archery coach.
I was given the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Warrior Games as a
judge, so I have been here a few times. However, there are so many different
types of terrains for California that I feel like every time I come, it's the
first time I've been here.

Reporter (41:36): What made you want to come specifically here for this three
day vacation?

Tiffany (41:40): Uh, I had actually started my journey a while ago attempting
to bike the United States and have been very well was very successful because I
only have 6 states left. The goal after Mono Hot Springs was to hit 4 corners
and then the last 2.

Reporter (42:01): What was your reaction seeing all the media coverage trying
to put your name out there and find a way for us to find you?

Tiffany (42:11): This is actually the first time I have seen anything. I have
not. It's been 3 days and in the wilderness with no phone, no tent, and no map.
I didn't exactly have any opportunity to use Instagram, Facebook, or any of
those.

Mother/Father (42:48): We've not told her anything.

Tiffany (42:30): Yeah, they've also not told me anything. So this, coming in to
see you guys, you guys look great.

Reporter (42:41): All right, maybe one more question, guys, and we'll let them
get back to their day. Anything else?

Reporter (42:46): We really appreciate you coming and talking to us, that you
so much.

Tiffany (42:50): Yeah, thank you guys. And I would also like to say thank you
for all of the people that helped to try and find me and for all of the hard
work. I, I really do have a new faith in humanity and hopefully I will be a
wonderful healthcare professional and possibly MD in the future.