After disappearing over two weeks ago in the Makawao Forest Reserve on the island of Maui, yoga instructor and physical therapist Amanda Eller has been found alive.
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Eller went missing on May 8 after she didn’t return home from a routine hike. Her boyfriend reported her disappearance the next day. As rescuers, including friend Javier Cantellops searched the forest, her family created a Facebook page dedicated to finding Eller called AmandaEllersMissing.
On May 25, 17 days after she went missing, the yoga instructor was spotted by a rescue helicopter deep in a creek bed between two waterfalls. Her family had hired the search and rescue team with the funds raised through a GoFundMe page.
Cantellops told CNN affiliate KHON that he saw Eller waving her hands at the helicopter.
“We all look to our right … and out of the woodwork, man, you see Amanda Eller, my friend, coming out, waving her hands,” he said. “It was unbelievable, dude.”
Rescuers told KHON that Eller lost between 15 and 20 pounds (7-9 kgs) but kept herself going by staying close to a water source and eating raspberries and strawberry guavas she found in the forest. She even slept in pig beds to keep warm during the nights.
In a video posted on the Facebook page, Eller thanked the people of Maui for their support and for donating the money that led to her rescue.
“The last 17 days of my life have been the toughest days of my life,” she said. “It’s been a really significant spiritual journey that I was guided on and there were times of total fear and loss and wanting to give up. It came down to life and death and I had to choose and I chose life.”
She continued:
Seeing the way that the community of Maui came together … Just under the idea of helping one person make it out of the woods alive, just warms my heart. And just seeing the power of prayer and the power of love when everybody combines their efforts is incredible. It could move mountains.
Eller suffered a leg fracture, severe sunburn, swelling and abrasions to her legs.
