For 9 days, the fate of sergeant Ramon Aguilar gripped the nation: where was he, was he alive, had he been captured, killed.... And while the country worried, the BDF, hundreds of soldiers, half the army combed all 300 square miles of the Chiquibul Forest Reserve for him. And finally on Saturday afternoon at 3:00, the good news came: he had been found alive and well. Tonight, we'll have the full story on the search and rescue, but we begin on Saturday night at the BDF's Air Wing Hangar. 7NEWS was there for the soldier's emotional return.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Emotions were high at the BDF Air Wing on Saturday night as Sgt. Ramon Aguilar's wife, his children, his mother, and other family members were delivered to the Air Wing in a BDF van to await his return. The anticipation was joyous for Juvencia Aguilar; she fought back tears as she awaited the much-prayed-for return of her son.
Juvencia Aguilar,
"Papa, I don't know how to express my feelings. I am so happy. I am so happy and I thank that great man up there and everybody who did their best for my son. I am so grateful."
Sgt. Aguilar arrived on this BDF Defender. No less than the Commander of the BDF, General Lloyd Gillett, himself a pilot, signaled the plane. The remarkably energetic and spirited soldier put on his beret, like any good soldier would, and he jumped out of the plane with a strong stride and even a spring in his step. He headed for the main hanger, upbeat and unbroken.
Keith Swift,
Ramon how are you doing?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar, Rescued
"I am feeling good man."
Keith Swift,
9 days.
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"Well the BDF taught me to survive so that is what I did."
After nine days in the jungle Aguilar didn't appear tired or fatigued, in fact he was strong enough to keep standing as he walked into a deluge of embraces and emotions.
[Family Members Hugging him and Sobbing]
Those waves of emotion would later crest when he met his wife, his mother, his daughter, and nieces, nephews and other close family members. His wife Lorna says she never gave up hope.
[Entering Waiting to Hugs and Screams from His Wife and Children]
Lorna Aguilar, Ramon's Wife
"I feel happy, I can't explain. I feel so happy. I had that faith that he would come and I knew he would come home."
Keith Swift,
So you never lost hope?
Lorna Aguilar,
No."
Keith Swift,
Ramon did you ever lose hope that they wouldn't find you?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"Never, never."
And he never lost hope because his ordeal began with one simple error.
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"I ended up losing my map. At that point I was conscious I couldn't go anymore so I just backtracked, as we call it. Upon backtracking, I guess I was too much off my track and just about 5 in the evening I got conscious that I was surrounded by only the jungle with nowhere to go."
Nowhere to go and Sgt. Aguilar spent the next 9 nights in the jungle. For most of the 8 days he wandered through the vast forest trying to find a track that would lead him out. For proof of that, we'll show you his boots.
Keith Swift,
Were you moving around?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"Yes I did a lot of moving, if you notice my boots are all torn up. I thought of staying one place but then being one place wouldn't take me anywhere. I had to get out and find somewhere to go."
Aguilar says he survived those 9 days by eating what was available.........and that included a snake.
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"The BDF trained me to survive so that is what I did."
Q: What did you eat?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"Anything that moved; snakes, crabs, whatever."
Jules Vasquez,
What was the strangest thing you had to eat?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"Well the snake that nearly bit me. It was a jumping tommy goff...I was walking up the creek and I made a step and it was right there so I just took machete, cut a branch and hit it. And I never ate snake before but that day I had to eat it as part of surviving."
Keith Swift,
How did it taste?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"Well it would have been nicer if it was cooked."
And while he can laugh about it now, the Sgt was lost. But he never panicked, and instead relied on his traning. On Saturday that paid off when he found a track that would lead him out. He was found 9 hours later.
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"About six o'clock I decided to walk that stream. I walked from there and I met a normal track that goes east and I decided to take that track there going east. I walked for about four hours until I made a wider track where I saw some boot prints. I figured it was either BDF or the Xateros. I decided to follow that and that's when I heard voices."
Keith Swift,
What went through your mind when you heard those voices?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"First of all when I heard voices I stopped to listen because it could the Xateros. If it was Spanish then it would be the Xateros and if English I knew it would be Belizeans and I recognized some of the guys' voices so I knew it was soldiers."
Sgt. Aguilar was rescued by those soldiers and flown from Toledo to Belize City. He now has the distinction as being the soldier who was lost for the longest time. His Commander couldn't be more proud while Aguilar is just happy they didn't stop searching.
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett, BDF Commander
"I am very proud of him as well. It shows that the training we give our soldiers in the BDF is useful and relevant and he all made us proud by making his way back out of the jungle and surviving for eight days in the jungle."
Jules Vasquez,
Do you know that everyone in Belize was concerned about you?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"Well after three or four days I knew it would be a concern, especially nine days in the jungle."
Keith Swift,
Were you able to keep track of time?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"Well one thing I didn't try to lose was my watch. The jungle doesn't have any signs so it is just you and the jungle so you have to make the best of it and survive the best way you could."
Jules Vasquez,
So you've set the new record, 8 days and 9 nights. The last record was 5 days.
[Cheering]
But Aguilar says that's nothing. The Sgt. whose once uncertain fate captivated the country, says he was simply doing his job. And all he wanted to do his first night back was eat with his family and watch a bout of boxing.
Keith Swift,
What's the first thing you are going to do?
Sgt. Ramon Aguilar,
"Well with my family and watch a little boxing if anything."
And after boxing on Saturday night - it was fry chicken on Sunday at his mom's house.
Jules Vasquez,
You got him just in time for a Sunday dinner.
Juvencia Aguilar,
"Yes...fry chicken." [Laughing]
His daughter Dianne is just happy to her father is back in time for her birthday later this month.
Keith Swift,
How do you feel to have your dad back?
Dianne Aguilar,
"Good."
Jules Vasquez,
You were confident they would find him?
Dianne Aguilar,
"Yes."
Keith Swift,
You have a birthday coming up right?
Dianne Aguilar,
Yes."
Keith Swift,
And you were hoping your dad would be back.
Dianne Aguilar,
"Yes. It's October 28th."
Jules Vasquez,
This will have to be a special party then.
Dianne Aguilar,
[Laughing] "It will be a snake party."
Later on in the news we'll have much more from Sgt. Aguilar as today he told us why his daughter Diannede-Yanni might not get that birthday wish.
