A woman who survived two days alone in the wilderness without food, water and shelter at just six-years-old says her imaginary friend “kept her calm”. <br /><br />Haley Zega, 27, got lost whilst on a hike with her grandparents and friends in the Ozark Mountains, Arkansas, US.<br /><br />She became separated from her grandparents - Jay and Joyce Hale - near a waterfall and took the wrong path, leaving her "immediately alone".<br /><br />Haley spent the next 52 hours trying to navigate her way out of the huge Ozark National Forest aided only by her imaginary friend, Alicia - while 1,000 people looked for her.<br /><br />She trekked along the Buffalo River hoping it would lead to a bridge and eventually a town – sleeping out in the open.<br /><br />After two days without food or water, Haley was rescued by two men - William Jeff Villines and Lytle James - and carried her on the back of their mules to safety.<br /><br />Haley, an actress from Fayetteville, Arkansas, US, said: "I've never really been a panicker and in extreme life or death situations I'm calm and in problem solving mode and that's how I felt throughout.<br /><br />"From the minute I was lost I had this imaginary friend, Alicia, who kept me calm and on task and was nothing but a positive presence for me whilst I was missing.<br /><br />"There were times I didn't want to be out there and the nights were pretty difficult being alone in the dark, with nothing.<br /><br />"I was not having a good time, but it never occurred to me that I wouldn't be okay.<br /><br />"I think if I'd been any younger I would have sat down and cried and had I been older I would have known how serious the situation was and not to move.<br /><br />"The place I went missing is probably the most rural area between The Appalachian Mountains and Rocky Mountains."<br /><br />The group had hiked to the Whittaker Point area of the Ozark National Forest in April 29 2001, when a “tired and fussy” Haley insisted her grandparents take her down to see a waterfall she had spotted.<br /><br />They refused and adopted the "classic" move of turning to leave - knowing Haley would eventually follow.<br /><br />Haley did but found herself alone after taking a separate trail, thinking it would meet back up with her grandparents.<br /><br />Once lost, she decided her best bet was to be near the river.<br /><br />Haley said: "I was thinking that it would eventually lead to a gas station where I could call my parents.<br /><br />"I was shouting my parents names and their phone numbers.<br /><br />"There were helicopters overhead and I started throwing sand from the riverbank into the air, but they never saw me.<br /><br />"I was wearing a grey shirt, black shorts, so I wasn't very visible, and annoyingly I'd left a red sweatshirt in the truck.<br /><br />"It was kind of a perfect storm of small bad decisions."<br /><br />At night, Haley swam to an open rock in the middle of the river to sleep – believing she needed to be out in the open to get spotted – but said it was a “miracle” she didn’t drown.<br /><br />Haley continued along the riverbank the next day, whilst unbeknownst to her one of the biggest organised searches in Arkansas history.
