Rita Chretien says she was ready to die

A Penticton woman made international news headlines after beating the odds and surviving a long and harrowing ordeal in the wilderness.

Rita Chretien managed to stay alive for 49 days in the Nevada desert despite being lost and with barely any food.

Chretien says she and husband Al Chretien were excited to set out from Penticton for their trip to a trade show in Las Vegas on March 19.

The pair planned to spend the night in Jackpot City but despite using a GPS system, they never made it there.

In fact, the very device designed to guide them there led them to danger.

“In our GPS, we punched in Jackpot City and it gave a route. It was more country, after many kilometers, it became more like a backroad trail. The GPS still indicated turns so we kept on,” Chretien said.

The couple soon realized the decision was the wrong one when their van became stuck in the mud.

Al tried calling for help but the cell phone reception was very poor.

“We just couldn’t believe it. Al cried and I cried and we prayed to the Lord, what will we do now?” Chretien said.

On the third day, a desperate Al decided to go search for help.

Despite Rita’s fear of being alone, a bad knee forced her to stay behind.

Little did she know, not only would that be the last time she ever saw her husband but that she would spend the next 46 days alone in the Nevada desert fighting to stay alive.

“Every day I would walk for 15 minutes and every other day, get water,” Chretien said.

On top of the water, Rita survived on some trail mix the first week, after that, a single candy a day and her fish oil tablets.

“Occasionally I saw a little green sprig or weed. I would try it, I tasted many things, nothing sat right, not chewable, some things were hard to swallow so I thought ok, I will just stick to candy and fish oil,” Chretien said.

At times when she felt really hungry, Rita says she would pretend that the candy in her hand was a hot dog or macaroni and cheese.

She says that helped take the cravings away.

Rita also says she kept herself occupied by writing in her diary, reading her Bible and two other faith-related books and doing a lot of praying.

“There were times I broke down and bawled my eyes out otherwise I kept my mind focused and enjoyed books as long as it takes, I’ll just hang in there,” Chretien said.

But on day 49, Rita’s will to survive started to fade.

“It was such a gradual thing. I didn’t notice I was getting weak until the last day, I went to get water. It was so difficult to get back, I was almost crawling back and I thought, what was happening to me,” she said.

“I thought maybe I will die so I got myself cleaned up a little, got a blanket around me, laid on the back bench of the van and I prayed,” she said.

But just as she accepted her fate, a miracle happened: Rita heard noise and discovered a trio of ATVers approaching.

“I had to pinch myself to see if it was really real,” she said.

She currently drives around Penticton in the same van she spent all that time alone in.

She is running Al’s excavation business and admits her beloved husband is likely dead but she is grateful for her survival.

“If you had asked me if I could do that, I wouldn’t have though so. But it was one day at a time, just like life is one day at a time too,” she said.