Injured Corona Hunter Thinking He Would Die In Idaho Wilderness Is Back Home Telling His Ordeal

CORONA (CBSLA.com) – A hunter from Corona, who broke his leg in the Idaho wilderness then crawled for several days to find help, is back home and reunited with his family Tuesday.

With his leg in a brace and the help of a walker, John Sain was reunited with loved ones--a moment he doubted would ever come as he lay injured and trapped in the woods.

"Knew right off the bat it wasn't good. I wasn't going to make it out alive. There is no way," Sain said.

On Sept. 17, he was on a trail about nine miles in when he fell. Sain said he stepped on two logs and his right foot slipped in between them. "My momentum was carrying me forward and snapped my tibia and fibula in half," the hunter said.

The 50-year-old father of two is an experienced outdoorsman. And while he was prepared for a number of dangerous scenarios, he believed he would likely die from his injuries. That was until he started thinking about his family.

Sain became emotional as he recalled his desperate moments. "I started writing last goodbyes to my family. Started with my wife, then my daughter and my son. After I wrote the letter to my son, I said: no way, ain't no way."

So he made a splint for his leg. For more than three excruciating days, he crawled along the trail, starving and dehydrated. But he was determined to live knowing his family needed him.

Finally, motorcycle riders spotted him and called for help.

"It's been pretty hard. But I'm glad to have him back," wife Jennifer Sain said.

His son Cole Sain said: "Makes me think that anything is possible if you put your mind to it."

Sain said he is now focused on walking again and on his family, not taking them for granted.