When heavy snow forced this 36-year-old Oregon man to spend five days in his car awaiting rescue, he says that he was “saved” by some leftover packets of hot sauce.
Jeremy Taylor had been driving through Deschutes County earlier this month when his SUV got stuck in the powder.
Hoping that the weather would ease up during the night, Taylor resigned himself to sleeping in his car alongside his dog Ally. The next day, however, the record-breaking snowfall had only made things worse. Taylor and Ally tried to hike through the snow for help, but the snow was so deep, he knew that it would be too risky to try and find help.
Taylor and Ally then hunkered down in his car and waited for rescuers to arrive. The two of them spent the next five days in his car, during which he would periodically eat leftover Taco Bell fire sauce for energy and turn on his car for occasional heating during the frigid nighttime temperatures.
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After days of slurping down hot sauce packets, Taylor was finally found by a snowmobile rider who discovered his car and called the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.
“Jeremy and Ally were found to be in good condition, but hungry after being stuck in the snow for five days,” the department wrote in a Facebook post.
Upon being brought back to civilization, Taylor made his own social media post to thank his friends and family for their support, saying: “I’m safe, my Ally dog is safe. I really appreciate all the help. Got lucky, lets never do that again. I’ll be in touch with everyone soon.”
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In addition to his tale of survival being shared by news outlets from around the world, a Taco Bell spokesperson reportedly reached out to Taylor in order to offer him a year’s worth of free food.
Though we are not yet sure whether Taylor is destined to be the new Taco Bell poster boy, he did jokingly praise the fast food chain’s hot sauce in a Facebook comment, saying: “Taco Bell fire sauce saves lives.”
Fire Up Your Friends With The Good News By Sharing It To Social Media – Photo by Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Oregon Facebook / Jamie, CC