Amanda Eller, hiker saved in Hawaii, sorry to be "irresponsible"

TO CLOSE

The missing hiker, Amanda Eller, was found alive and in good shape more than two weeks after her disappearance from a forest reserve in Maui, Hawaii.
UNITED STATES TODAY & # 39; HUI

In the jubilation surrounding the rescue of a hiker lost in a Hawaiian forest for 17 days, some details of what led to her ordeal were concealed.

Now, Amanda Eller offers details while taking responsibility for some of her bad decisions.

In a video posted on Facebook this weekend, Eller described herself less as a stubborn survivor – the image that emerges from many stories of her trying experience in the Makawao Forest Reserve on Maui – and more as a poorly prepared explorer.

"I want to apologize for putting everyone at risk, for any type of rescue that people think is useless," she said, her injured legs partially covered with bandages.

Eller went into the woods on May 8th, was lost and was finally spotted in a creek bed by a helicopter pilot being part of a research team on the 24th. May, leading to a sensational rescue.

One of the mystifying aspects of Eller's protracted disappearance was the decision to leave her mobile phone in her car as she was leaving for what must have been a three-mile hike.

In the video, Eller says she initially planned to run through the woods and did not want any charge, but chose to walk after finding several trees felled shortly after starting her jog. After sitting down to meditate halfway through the hike, the 35-year-old physical therapist and yoga teacher said she was confused and could not find the vehicle.

This photo provided by Sarah Haynes shows hiker Amanda Eller, center, in her hospital bed surrounded by friends and family after surviving on wild fruits, water and sand after being lost for 17 days in the Hawaiian forest. (Photo: Sarah Haynes)

"I realize that I was irresponsible, that I should have had my cell phone with me, that I should have had water with me, a kind of preparatory tools that you bring with you during your hikes, "said Eller. "It was not my right to be so flippant about security."

Eller's story caught the attention of the international community and she was praised for her courage and resourcefulness, having survived for more than two weeks in the forest, drinking water from a river and feeding herself of fruits.

But she also drew criticism and criticism for her cavalier raid in the woods and for comparing the hardships she endured to a spiritual journey, which seemed to romance her. The dangerous situation in which Eller was put was highlighted five days after his rescue when another hiker, Noah "Kekai" Mina, was found dead in another forest on Maui.