Man pinned under ATV for two days survives on beer: ‘He’s lucky the drinks landed within reach of his arm’

“It was scary as hell is what it was,” says Frank Reynolds

Frank Reynolds survived on beer and water for 40 hours after being trapped under an ATV. (Campbell County Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds)

A Wyoming farmer who was trapped under an ATV for two days survived on beer and bottled water.

Frank Reynolds, 53, was trying to round up a cow and calf on a neighbour’s property outside Gillette in the northeastern part of the state when the ATV tipped over and ended up on top of him on Sunday.

“It was scary as hell is what it was,” Mr Reynolds told the Gillette News Record on Wednesday from a hospital room.

The Campbell County undersheriff, and Frank’s brother, Quentin Reynolds, said the family thought Mr Reynolds had gone camping or was hanging out with friends.

They started to worry later on Monday and eventually learned that Mr Reynolds had been planning to do some work on the neighbour’s pasture.

As a search for Mr Reynolds took off around 2pm, he was honking the ATV’s horn so frequently that the battery was worn out – but he still wasn’t found. He had a dislocated shoulder and broken ribs.

The family filed a missing person report with the Sheriff’s office about three hours later, Cowboy State Daily reported.

Sheriff Scott Matheny said he was able to ration some bottled water and a few beers from a cooler.

“The country out there was so rough that the search party, originally on four-wheelers, had to turn back and saddle up horses,” Mr Matheny added.

Mr Reynolds said he was “pretty much out of it” when he was found by neighbour Don Hamm around 8am on Tuesday.

The ATV rolled on top of the rancher when he accidentally reversed back down a steep embankment, trapping him in a creek bed for two nights and a day.

“Everything on the left side pretty much hurt, from the top of my head to my toes,” he said.

A photo from the hospital bed shows Mr Reynolds with heavy bruising around his eye and shoulder and a big bump on the top of his head.

“He’s really lucky that the drinks landed within reach of his right arm,” his brother said.

Mr Reynolds was expected to stay in hospital for a few additional days and ultimately recover.

“It’s a happy ending,” Quentin Reynolds added. “It could have been a lot worse.”