A suburban Chicago man who was stranded on a mountain in Nepal for five days after a devastating earthquake struck the region has been rescued and will soon return to the U.S.
Corey Ascolani, of Palos Hills, said Sunday that he and a group of hikers he was with when the earthquake hit were taken to the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu and were safe. Ascolani, along with two other Americans and a group of people from several other countries, was rescued by a U.S. Special Forces helicopter, he said.
“When they came we were really happy to see them because we had other helicopters come before but they took only their own citizens and some injured and wounded and elderly,” Ascolani said.
Ascolani said the U.S. helicopter not only took him and two other Americans from the mountainside, but the entire group of people he was with.
“At that moment I wanted to be really proud, I was, I am very proud of the United States for taking the whole group, it shows a lot,” he said. “Most people conveyed that they really appreciate America doing that for them and that made me even more proud.”
Ascolani’s family was left worried, unsure if he was even alive for several days after the earthquake hit. Then, they received a message, a text that the 34-year-old had sent via a satellite phone.
“We need more pressure on the embassy. I am healthy and safe,” the message read.
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“That was 160 characters, around that, and then it got blasted all over the media and through Facebook, that same text,” Ascolani said.
The group hid behind boulders to avoid landslides and survived countless aftershocks that rattled the region during the five days after the earthquake.
Ascolani said he plans to return to Chicago this week, but he’s determined still to help the villagers in the area he was rescued from. He plans to start a GoFundMe page to raise money for those in remote areas like the one he was rescued from.
When he returns home, Ascolani said he would like to tell his family one important message.
“I love you and thank you for everything,” he said. “I can’t express in words how grateful I am for them doing all this hard work, talking to the embassies, putting the pressure on everyone, getting everyone together to make this happen, to make us be rescued.”
