This incident occurred in Ernul, a small town in North Carolina, where three-year-old Casey Hathaway went missing. He went out to play with friends but didn’t return home. The weather turned freezing, and the child was not dressed appropriately. A rescue team immediately initiated a search using drones and helicopters.
As it got even colder, rescuers requested volunteers to halt the search for their safety. In the evening, they finally heard the boy crying. Casey was found among thorny bushes, soaked and cold but, most importantly, unharmed, except for a few scratches.
Later, the child revealed that he had a friend in the woods who helped and warmed him – a bear. The boy asked for a drink from the rescuers and requested to be taken to his mom. He shared the same bear story with his aunt, who believed it could be a miracle, thinking divine intervention helped the child survive.
Sheriff Chip Hughes later disclosed that the boy had to navigate through an icy water body, with the depth reaching almost shoulder height for adults. How the child, with a height of about a meter, managed to swim there remains a mystery.
In this region, black bears, specifically the American black bear, are prevalent. They rarely attack humans, preferring to avoid them.
