Hawaii woman rescued from forest told self not to give up

Published 7:48 am Tuesday, May 28, 2019

WAILUKU, Hawaii — A Hawaii woman who was found alive in a forest on Maui island after going missing more than two weeks ago said she at times struggled not to give up.

Amanda Eller told the New York Times that despite these moments, she told herself “the only option I had was life or death.”

“I heard this voice that said, ‘If you want to live, keep going.’ And as soon as I would doubt my intuition and try to go another way than where it was telling me, something would stop me, a branch would fall on me, I’d stub my toe, or I’d trip,” said Eller, 35, a physical therapist and yoga instructor. “So I was like, ‘OK, there is only one way to go.’ “

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Eller was found injured Friday in the Makawao Forest Reserve.

Eller, who is from the Maui town of Haiku, went missing on May 8. Her white Toyota RAV4 was found in the forest parking lot with her phone and wallet inside.

Hundreds of volunteers searched for her. Eller’s parents offered a $10,000 reward to encourage people to find her.