Hiker Rescued in Final Hours of Weeks-Long Search

A search-and-rescue mission almost turned into a tragedy after a hiker nearly missed out on being found by the crew looking for him.

Forty-eight-year-old Scott Hern of Ohio was hiking in Kentucky 's Red River Gorge earlier this month when he went missing in the wilderness. He was stranded for a total of 14 days, and on the last day of the search, the Wolfe County Search & Rescue Team found him just as they were about to give up on the mission.

"An inexperienced hiker in a wilderness area for 14 days without food or water, nobody really expected to find him alive like we did," Wolfe County Search & Rescue chief John May told CNN . "It’s really just a miracle that he survived."

A team of five rescuers found Hern after they heard someone calling for help in the woods off Tower Rock Trail. He first disappeared on July 6 and was found after the saviors spotted a shoe print and evidence of a walking stick in a little-traversed area. Authorities were able to track him down after a U.S. Forest Service officer saw Hern's truck parked at the Red River Gorge the day he went missing and saw it again in the same spot a week later.

"When he ran his license plate, that’s what kind of triggered this whole event because there was a missing persons report filed in Ohio where he was actually missing from,” May told WLEX .

Wolfe County Search & Rescue team member Eric Wolterman recounted his side of the story in a Facebook post.

"It was going to be the final day of searching whether we located anything or not," he said. "We were in the roughest terrain you could imagine and it’s very dangerous for anyone to even be out there."

Once Wolterman found Hern, they embraced in what he believes was "the best hug of both of our lives."

Hern is lucky to be alive having survived so long without food or water . He was taken to the hospital after his rescue and has been on the road to feeling better.

“We’ve never encountered anyone that has been lost for 14 days and found alive. So, it’s definitely unusual,” May told CNN .

"I think he’s going to make a full recovery," May added. "It’s just going to take a little time to get real food in him, rehydrate him, get his feet in better condition and we think he’ll be good to go."