Five-Year-Old Survives After Current Overpowers Her
5-year-old girl feared drowned with grandfather survived alone in the woods.
June 16, 2007 — -- Five-year-old Hannah Klamecki clutched her parents after spending two days alone in the woods. Even before searchers could locate her, she found them.
"I can't tell you how excited and enthused I was to see that," said Dave Horn, Momence, Ill., fire chief. "So I finally got on the air and screamed. I said, 'Boys she's alive. She's alive.'"
Klamecki was swimming with her grandfather in the Kankakee River Wednesday when the two were overpowered by a current.
The body of Klamecki's grandfather was later discovered downstream. He had apparently drowned. Klamecki's family feared she had suffered the same fate.
"My wife and I were sitting on the bank of the Kankakee River looking at the forest and we were just praying," said Mike Klamecki, Hannah's father. "We said, 'Lord, supernaturally guide her in our direction somehow.'"
With her tiny hands, Hannah managed to grab a branch and pull herself from the raging river. For two nights, she wandered the woods barefoot.
"I tried to follow the river where it was going, but I got lost," Hannah said.
After walking about two miles, Hannah stumbled upon the camp searchers had set up.She had scratches from the dense brush, and she was cold, but otherwise fine. In one of her hands, she clutched some berries.
"I was going to save them for breakfast," she said.
This morning on "Good Morning America Weekend Edition," Hannah recounted her ordeal. She said she saw a large home, crossed a bridge and didn't eat anything during her time in the woods. Hannah also said she was not wearing shoes during the trek.
"That's kind of the big hurt for her right now," her father said. "We have to carry her everywhere."
Hannah's mother, Carole Klamecki, said emergency room doctors were amazed by her clean blood work and how healthy she was.
"I was astonished," Carole said.
She found it incredible that her daughter, who likes to play dress up and act like a princess, was able to find her way out of the woods and locate searchers.