Hiker drank from puddle and ate tadpoles to survive Texas desert ordeal

Marketing executive Jeff Hahn, 59, credits ‘three miracles’ for his survival in extreme heat in Big Bend Ranch state park

A Texas marketing executive who got lost for more than a day and fell prey to heat exhaustion while on a hike through a state park desert under a searing sun in mid-June drank from a puddle and ate tadpoles to survive, according to a compelling report of his ordeal.

Jeff Hahn’s tale, as told to the publication Texas Highways, defied the deadly outcomes that other hikers in peril have met in recent months, when the climate crisis fueled the US’s summer of record-breaking heat.