A hiker who had to be rescued from the Grand Canyon says his friends have been "unjustly vilified in the media" after initial reports indicated they left him alone and injured to fend for himself while they "continued on their backpacking adventures."
But William Formanek, 63, says that's not at all what happened.
"In my view, my friends did all the exact right things. They got me rescued," he told the Arizona Republic.
The original press release from the Mohave County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue claimed that Formanek was hiking in a group of five when he got injured and the group used a satellite-capable device to call for rescue.
"Once contact for help using the Apple device was confirmed by the hiking group, the other four hikers left with the Apple device and continued on their backpacking adventures, leaving the injured hiker behind alone," the release said. It ended with advice to hikers to never leave someone behind alone and ensure they are rescued before continuing along with a journey.
Formanek said his friends were criticized and judged on social media over the report, which was missing several details.
"My co-hikers were very upset that the press release was inaccurate, like, fuming and couldn't sleep at night," he told The Republic.
According to Formanek, all five hikers were together at one point but he and another man split from the group so they could hike further south of the campsite while the other three stayed behind. He said they were on their way back to the campsite when he dislocated his shoulder and could not go on due to the pain.
The group had two emergency devices to call for help, but they were left back at the campsite. At that point, the pair decided that the other hiker would go back to the campsite to get help.
"I had food, water, and all my gear, so if my friend stayed with me all he could do was sit and watch me suffer in pain," Formanek told The Republic.
About six hours after he was injured, a search crew finally arrived and rescued him in the dark. The next morning, authorities notified the group that Formanek was airlifted safely and they began their hike out of the canyon.
Formanek said his friends did everything they could to get him rescued quickly and he was "baffled" by how the story got mixed up.