Rescued Hiker Hallucinated Python Attack

So what's it like to be lost in a canyon for four days and dehydrated to the point of death? For rescued hiker Kyndall Jack, it meant trying to eat stones and dirt thinking they were food; sucking on twigs thinking they'd provide water the way straws do; and fending off an imaginary attack from a python, reports the Los Angeles Times. "I definitely gave up hope," says the 18-year-old. "There were definitely some times I didn't think I was going to make it."

Jack says she and her hiking partner, Nicolas Cendoya, left the trail on their way up a mountain in Cleveland National Forest and realized they were lost within hours as darkness set in. Cendoya, who was rescued a day before Jack, tells a similar tale of disorientation, but both are expected to make full recoveries and leave the hospital soon. Not so for a rescuer who suffered a serious head injury when he fell during the rescue of Jack. He remains in serious condition. (More hikers stories.)