Stranded man survives 10 days on snow; friend dies.

LAS VEGAS — A 76-year-old diabetic
Colorado man survived 10 days in the
remote Nevada desert by melting snow and
using skills he learned as a Boy Scout, but a
friend who was with him and ventured
away to get help died.
James Klemovich and Laszlo Szabo, 75, went
to scope out some mines in the state when
their car became stuck on a lonely road with
no cell phone service, Klemovich's wife,
Joanne, said Thursday.
The men tried unsuccessfully to dislodge the
car, and lit flares and started fires in hopes
somebody would see them in northwestern
Nevada's Pershing County, an area where
less than 7,000 people are spread over
6,000 square miles.
They used a towel in the car to strain ditch
water and snow into water bottles, but,
after four or five days, Szabo left to get help.
Joanne Klemovich began to worry when
several days passed without a phone call
from her husband.
"I figured maybe they'd had an accident and
they were stranded," she said. "I thought
maybe they were in a mine shaft. All kinds of
things were going through my head."
Joanne Klemovich said she was expecting
the worst when authorities called Tuesday
night to say her husband had been found by
military personnel who were holding
training exercises in the area.
"I thought it was bad news, but it was very
good news," she said by telephone from the
couple's home in Littleton, Colo. "I didn't
know what to even do or say."
James Klemovich has diabetes, wears a
pacemaker and had a triple bypass heart
surgery, his wife said.
He told her he wasn't panicking while he sat
for days waiting for Szabo's return, she said.
He kept a journal, noting how much water
he drank and what he did each day. And he
wrote a letter each day for her.
Drinking regularly was likely the biggest
factor in his survival despite the diabetes
that could have sent his blood sugar
dangerously out of whack, according to Rita
Kalyani, who teaches endocrinology at the
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
in Baltimore.
During a fast, she said, the body can draw
glucose from the liver or from fat stores to
keep levels from dropping too low. But
having enough water is essential to flush
out excess glucose and prevent levels from
rising too high.
When the military personnel found
Klemovich, they gave him a banana, two
oranges and three boiled eggs, he told his
wife.
Szabo, of Lovelock, Nev., was found dead
about a mile and a half away. An autopsy is
being performed.
Klemovich said her husband hasn't been
talking much about his friend and that she
doesn't know whether Szabo has any close
relatives.
"When I first talked to him I could tell he'd
been through an ordeal," she said. "When he
called back, he sounded pretty good."
James Klemovich is still in Nevada, waiting
for the car to be recovered before returning
home. He was treated and released from a
hospital.
Joanne Klemovich said she knows the first
words she'll say to her husband of 48 years
as of Wednesday: "Happy belated
anniversary."