Inspired by Bear Grylls, a 29-year-old British man, David Austin, decided to embark on a year-long adventure in the Scottish wilderness. Unfortunately, the man died in under a month, likely from hypothermia. His body wasn’t discovered until weeks after he had died.
Austin is said to have known what he was getting into. Apparently, he had taken a few courses on bushcraft skills and outdoor survival for the past two years. It was always his dream to rough it out for a whole year, and he had taken time off of work to accomplish this. He wanted to be at the mercy of the harsh winter so badly that he did not even carry a mobile phone with him. Last November, he had informed his family that he would be heading north on a survival mission and now the news of his death has left them dumbfounded. (Source: OddityCentral via Burnsy)
The exact cause of his death will always remain a mystery, although “it was f**king cold” could be described as the inexact cause. I feel bad for the guy’s family, but then again, David Austin knew what he was getting himself into. If you’re going to emulate Bear Grylls, besides drinking your own urine, you might also take a cell phone, a camera crew, and spend a few nights in hotels. If it’s any consolation, Austin lost to a much bigger force than Bear Grylls. Nature is out there, and it’s play or get played. Mother Nature is a bitch, and no amount of urine drinking will spare you from 12 months — or even three weeks — of freezing temperatures and heavy snow.
