British TV presenter Katherine Forster breathed a sigh of relief after her sons, who had gone for a hike up an active volcano in Bali, ignoring her warnings, were reported safe after being feared dead. All thanks to the tricks they learnt from the “extensive viewing” of Bear Grylls’ videos.
Sharing the news about her sons’ safety, Forster, who was supposed to cover the UK general elections, said she experienced the “worst day of my life” after her sons, Matten, 22 and Andrew, 18, went missing for 30 hours.
The duo had set off in the early hours of Wednesday and were stranded on the still active volcano at 10,000 ft., when instead they were supposed to be on their flight back home by then, after their nine week trip across Southeast Asia.
What saved the lives of these adventure seeking sibblings was the extensive viewing of Bear Grylls videos and a little scout training. It took nearly 40 hours to rescue them, and they are on their way back home now. The brothers the techniques they picked up from his videos to collect rainwater and build shelter.
‘Weak But Alive’: Duo Found After 40 Hours Of Search
In a social media post, their mother, Katherine Forster shared the ordeal she experienced as she felt her sons slipping away. Her doubts about their safety arose after she was unable to contact them as the power on their phones had died.
Forster said that her sons had hiked up 3000m volcano Mt Agung on Wednesday, starting at 2:30 am to see the sunrise. “Phones died near top. I didn’t know. By the time a friend of theirs got hold of me early Thurs morning they’d not been heard from in 30 hrs,” she wrote on X.
Fortunately, the duo had been in touch with a few friends as they hiked up. One of them reported them missing to the British Embassy on Wednesday night.
“Thursday was the worst day of my life. But friends dropped work & came round. Made phone calls. Our tech savvy young friends & friends of friends spread the boys’ pics & last known location across social media. The Foreign Office were amazing. Local rescuers scoured the volcano,” she continued.
Yesterday morning I should have been outside No 10 reporting. More importantly, my 2 eldest sons should have arrived home after a 9 week adventure across Southeast Asia. But they didn’t…..(thread) pic.twitter.com/tpbYyzuvFy
— Katherine Forster (@forster_k) July 6, 2024
“Then suddenly it was the best day of my life. 40 hours after they’d set off, they were found. Weak but alive. The first rescuer to reach them said they thought they’d be dead. 3 dozen search & rescue, police, fire saved their lives,” she added, sharing how they were found.
The correspondent then thanked the Karangasem rescue team and the friends and people who helped spread word about her missing sons.
“Thank you Karangasem Rescue & all those on the ground. Thank you @FCDOGovUK. And thank you to all our friends & young people who raised the alarm & spread the word. And for the tech. Rescuers saved them. But so did you,” Forster wrote.
“They are beyond lucky to live to tell the tale”, she said adding that her sons are now on their way home.
