Refusal to share alcohol ends with three days in the desert

A paraplegic man was stranded in the New Mexico desert after refusing to share his alcohol with his travelling companions.

Ricky Gilmore with his damaged jeans after three days in the New Mexico desert

Ricky Gilmore dragged himself four miles down a dirt road for three days before a motorist finally stopped to help him.

Gilmore is being treated for acute kidney failure after going without food and water, he has sprained his wrist and has a blood infection. He has also suffered as a result of dragging himself through the dirt as the skin on his left leg and buttocks has been shredded.

Speaking from his hospital bed at the Northern Navajo Medical Centre in Shiprock, New Mexico, Gilmore said: “I’m just a big mess. I ache and I’m just in the first stages of healing.”

Gilmore’s nightmare began after he met a couple in a white truck while he was hitchhiking. He invited the pair back to his house for food and the three later went for what Gilmore thought would be a joyride in the truck.

When, during that journey, Gilmore refused to share his alcohol with the pair, he said the man grabbed him by the feet and threw him out of the truck.

Gilmore was left in the desert with no food, water, coat and without his wheelchair.

He said: “It was dark and I was shivering and the wind was blowing so I just crawled to a bush and dug in right there. It was cold that night.”

But in the morning, Gilmore said his survival instincts kicked in.

He added: “I started dragging myself. I did the same thing all day and I only got about two miles.

“I could have easily gave up and said forget it, but I said, ‘I’m not going to freeze out here’ and I just kept on going.”

On the third afternoon, a man in a blue pick-up truck stopped and called for help. Mr Gilmore said doctors told him his body temperature was 34.5 Celsius when he was found.

Gilmore said: “I don’t think I would have made it another night.”