Naked man rescued from Green River island: 'I'll never go back in there again'
AUBURN, Wash. -- The last 24 hours have been a frozen blur for Auburn's John Culp, who spent a harrowing night naked, scared and stuck on an island.
Culp was walking along the Green River in Auburn Tuesday night with his dog, Ozzy, when blisters on his feet started to take a toll.
Rather than continue walking, he decided to use Mother Nature.
"I keep a little raft inside my backpack, along with survival gear and stuff," he said.
Culp was rafting down the river for about an hour when he noticed a man-made structure sitting in the middle of the river. The next thing he knew, the current was pulling him towards the structure. Just moments later he and Ozzy were sucked under the object.
"And I didn't have anything to keep me up and I was going under. I kept going under and under," he said.
As he was floating down the river in frigid conditions without a life jacket, Culp knew he was in trouble.
"When the hypothermia set in, it was like I couldn't move," he said. "It took everything just to get one hand up."
With adrenaline racing and his arms and legs scratched, Culp made one last ditch effort to save himself.
"I tried with all my might," he said. "And I grabbed a branch and I barely tugged myself out."
He saved himself, but was now stuck on an island in the middle of a river, and he soon realized he had a new problem.
"I knew that to get my body warm I had to take my clothes off," he said. "I took them all off, got in a fetal position and I laid there for, like, several hours."
Naked and freezing cold, Culp said he survived by lying in grass, huddled around Ozzy.
As daylight broke Wednesday morning, someone finally heard his calls for help. Rescue crews soon came and got him off the island.
Culp now says he has a new respect for the river.
"I'll tell you, I'm afraid of that water," he said. "I'll never go back in there again."
Culp was treated at the hospital, but is now home and doing just fine.
Culp was walking along the Green River in Auburn Tuesday night with his dog, Ozzy, when blisters on his feet started to take a toll.
Rather than continue walking, he decided to use Mother Nature.
"I keep a little raft inside my backpack, along with survival gear and stuff," he said.
Culp was rafting down the river for about an hour when he noticed a man-made structure sitting in the middle of the river. The next thing he knew, the current was pulling him towards the structure. Just moments later he and Ozzy were sucked under the object.
"And I didn't have anything to keep me up and I was going under. I kept going under and under," he said.
As he was floating down the river in frigid conditions without a life jacket, Culp knew he was in trouble.
"When the hypothermia set in, it was like I couldn't move," he said. "It took everything just to get one hand up."
With adrenaline racing and his arms and legs scratched, Culp made one last ditch effort to save himself.
"I tried with all my might," he said. "And I grabbed a branch and I barely tugged myself out."
He saved himself, but was now stuck on an island in the middle of a river, and he soon realized he had a new problem.
"I knew that to get my body warm I had to take my clothes off," he said. "I took them all off, got in a fetal position and I laid there for, like, several hours."
Naked and freezing cold, Culp said he survived by lying in grass, huddled around Ozzy.
As daylight broke Wednesday morning, someone finally heard his calls for help. Rescue crews soon came and got him off the island.
Culp now says he has a new respect for the river.
"I'll tell you, I'm afraid of that water," he said. "I'll never go back in there again."
Culp was treated at the hospital, but is now home and doing just fine.
