'I was just trying to get back to my family,' lost boy recalls


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SALT LAKE CITY — Malachi Bradley doesn't show signs of being fazed or panicked or worried when he talks about how he spent 29 hours lost in a rugged area of the High Uintas.

"I didn't really feel scared. I was just trying to get back to my family," the 10-year-old said Tuesday in a quiet, almost matter-of-fact way just one day after he was rescued.

When asked what happened to him, he simply replied: "A lot of things. I hiked a long ways."

Malachi confidently proclaimed that he believes he could have survived two or three weeks on his own, dressed in only his hoodie, his jeans and his shoes, and with no food, tent or blankets.

But the look in the eyes of Malachi's father told a different story, one of much deeper concern and as he recalled the moment when he realized [his son was missing.](<http://www.ksl.com/?sid=36130133&nid=148&fm=related_story&s_cid=article-related-1 >)

"It's a horrible feeling, just knowing how vast the Uinta Mountains are," Danny Bradley said. "I quickly felt how severe the situation was."

Malachi recounted his great adventure Tuesday. He showed no signs of going without food for a day or sleeping between rocks for an hour at night to block the cold wind. But he admitted when he got home to his own bed on Monday night that he was asleep within a minute of his head hitting his pillow and stayed there for 12 hours.

His adventure began Sunday when Malachi, his father, two siblings, and a family friend were about to leave their campsite near Paul Lake near the Paradise Park Campground, to go home.

"We were just going to cook up (a fish he caught) and head out, and," Danny Bradley paused, "it ended up being a lot longer."

Malachi said he went to look for mushrooms about 10:30 a.m.

"I eventually got lost and I thought I could get back by a different way that made sense. But I thought I heard a rattlesnake, so I went back and I got lost," he said.

When Malachi tried to backtrack but could no longer see the lake where his campsite was set up, he knew he was lost.

He insists he was never scared or panicked. His father had taught him how to survive in the wilderness should he ever get lost.

"(I) just have a great appreciation for the outdoors and I try to get out there as much as I can. And I wanted to pass that on to my children," Bradley said.

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Malachi didn't have his whistle with him that he normally carries in case he gets lost when exploring. His father had also taught him to stay put if he should get lost, but without the whistle, Malachi said he felt "that I needed to get back. And I thought there was probably a road or something that I could find somebody to call my dad and tell him where I was.

"I didn't really feel scared," he said confidently, "mainly because I didn't have anything to be scared about."

Over the course of the next 29 hours, Malachi believes he walked a total of 15 to 20 miles with all the times he circled back.

"I was really tired. In fact, when I went to bed my legs were so numb I couldn't feel them or do anything," he said. "I only went to bed when the stars were out and I hid inside these rocks" to protect himself from the wind.

"It was really cold. But I went to sleep for like an hour. I didn't have much rest. I was really tired," he said. "I was surprised I could even sleep."

Malachi used his hoodie to filter water and then sucked the filtered water out of it. As for food, he said, his brother taught him he could go awhile without it.

"I got really hungry. I didn't really do anything in the night because I knew I could last two weeks without food," the boy said.


I was really tired. In fact, when I went to bed my legs were so numb I couldn't feel them or do anything. I only went to bed when the stars were out and I hid inside these rocks.

–Malachi Bradley


When talking about his adventure, Malachi mentions the animals, like a moose and deer that he saw, and how he at one point he tried to climb a steep cliff.

"I almost died once. I almost fell off a cliff. I was climbing this tree that had fell down and I had broken a branch. And I almost fell off a cliff because it was steep," he said. "I just wanted to keep going to find my family."

Malachi also saw several planes go over his head while he was lost.

"I heard a lot of planes. And I shouted whenever I heard a plane. I kept saying, 'I'm over here.' Nothing happened. A couple planes flew right above my head. Couldn't see me," he said.

But on Monday afternoon, Malachi said he took off his shoes to take a nap in an open area and heard another plane nearby.

"I was shouting, 'I'm over here,'" he said. "Then eventually a plane kept circling me. At first I thought he'd just go above my head and get lost and not see me. And then he went around so I couldn't see him. Then he went above the trees and back. And he kept doing that. I was sure he'd just stop it. But after about three times I knew he was trying to get somebody else to me. Then a helicopter came."

Malachi Bradley talks Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, about what he went through while lost in the Uinta Mountains while on a camping trip with his father and two other siblings. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
Malachi Bradley talks Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, about what he went through while lost in the Uinta Mountains while on a camping trip with his father and two other siblings. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

Malachi ran barefoot to his rescuers. His family said he was found between 7 and 12 miles away from the campsite.

The helicopter picked up Malachi and brought him back to base camp to his waiting family. The helicopter ride was one of his favorite parts of the weekend, Malachi admitted with a big smile.

For his father, he said his panic wasn't over until he could see his son's face.

"The helicopter was flying in with him on it and they announced to everyone there at base camp that they had found him. And in that instant, I doubted. I was like, 'Was that real?' I wasn't sure. I had to look and verify in the helicopter. And I saw his face almost immediately and felt so reassuring — just felt relief," he said.

When Malachi was reunited, he recalled telling his family, "I love them and stuff and I'm never going to get lost again," he said. "I was happy to see all my family."

Overall, the experience has not deterred Malachi or his family from returning to the wilderness to camp again.

"It was fun, not the complete getting lost part, but it was fun exploring," Malachi said.

Contributing: Sandra Yi

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