California hiker Holly Courtier, who was missing in Zion National Park for 12 days, suffered a head injury shortly after she began hiking and became disoriented, her daughter told CNN.
“She injured her head on a tree,” Kailey Chambers texted to CNN. “She was very disoriented as a result and thankfully ended up near a water source — a river bed. She thought her best chance of survival was to stay next to a water source.”
Chambers texted that her mother was “too weak and disoriented” to walk out on her own or seek help.
“She was unable to take more than a step or two without collapsing. This prevented her from being able to seek out help,” Chambers wrote. “She told me she was so dehydrated she couldn’t open her mouth.”
According to a news release from Zion National Park, Courtier was located after park rangers “received a credible tip from a park visitor” that the missing woman had been “seen within the park.” In an email to Fox News on Monday night, park spokeswoman Amanda Rowland wrote that Courtier was found “in a thickly vegetated area along the Virgin River" adding, “She was able to leave of her own capability with minimal assistance."
Courtier, 38, was dropped off by a private shuttle bus at the Grotto park area on Oct. 6. She was scheduled to be picked up at 4:40 p.m., but she never returned.
Jillian Courtier-Oliver told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that her sister had lost a lot of weight and had “bruises all over her body.” Holly Courtier remained hospitalized on Monday and "will need medical care in the days moving forward, according to a GoFundMe page started by another of Courtier’s sisters.
The page raised more than $11,100 of its $15,000 goal by Monday evening.
Chambers texted CNN that her mother was "getting her strength back and hydrating. She is still weak but recovering. ... We will continue to focus on her health and will update everyone when possible.”
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