Man hikes 11 miles to check on his parents after Hurricane Helene

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Gray News) – A man in North Carolina hiked 11 miles up a mountain to check on his parents after Hurricane Helene.

Sam Perkins said his parents are in their 70s and live in a remote area about an hour outside of Asheville.

Under normal circumstances, Perkins said it’s “pleasantly very isolated,” but after a hurricane, it made contacting them a nightmare.

After 48 hours of not hearing from them, Perkins wanted to make sure they were OK, but the roads were blocked.

So, he filled a backpack with supplies and started the exhausting 3.5-hour trek through downed trees and mudslides.

“I was able to hitchhike with someone for a little bit of the ways at the bottom where the road was relatively clear, until it wasn’t. We hit a spot where the road had washed out. There was a really bad landslide,” Perkins told CNN.

He continued, “I can’t tell you how many landslides and collapsed roads and trees I had to cross to get to them. And so, I kind of got more and more worried the more that I went up, because it just got worse and worse,” he said.

Through it all, Perkins finally reached his parents, relieved to find out that they were OK.

“Just was the greatest relief I’ve had in my life. And just hugged him [my dad] as tight as I could and, you know, bawled, and then went inside and found my mom and did the same.”

Perkins decided to head back home and conquer the 3.5-hour hike again, because he didn’t want to use up any of his parents’ food or supplies.

“It was the most exhausting hike and kind of a crawl through a jungle gym of trees and landslides I’ve ever had to do. But I’m glad I did it and I’m relieved to know they’re OK.”

Copyright 2024 Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved. CNN Newsource contributed to this report.