Exploitation Row for Channel 4 as Ed Wardle Escapes Starvation

''Towards the end, he wrote about talking to insects and having hallucinations, which prompted people back home following his Tweets to worry about his mental state. For the entire seven-week period, he had no contact with civilization, living off berries and the animals he could catch or hunt. ''

er... no contact with civilization? except his blackberry and regular use of twitter?!

Precisely Tom. The only contact Wardle had with the outside world was an emergency phone (that he only used to make the distress call) and access to Twitter once a day, as stated in the article. The rest of the time, he was just by himself, alone with his camera, as the purpose of the show was to be as “real” as possible. Even the tapes were sent to the network without him ever meeting staff, by leaving them at pre-established drop off points.

Hello

I'm the Digital Publicity Manager for Channel 4, the UK network that will be screening the programme. There are one or two inaccuracies (or exaggerations) in your piece that I would like to address.

Firstly, we have published a statement about the decision to pull him out of the wild, here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/alone-in-the-wild/articles/latest-on-ed

As regards his wellbeing, as has been reported elsewhere (see the story at The Mirror's web site, here: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/most-popular/2009/08/27/cameraman-tells-of-channel-4-extreme-reality-tv-show-that-almost-saw-him-die-of-starvation-115875-21627587/), the doctor he saw on his return indicated that Wardle was malnourished but well - indeed, as the story also points out, he immediately ate a steak and drank a beer.

He did not hallucinate, and is now back in Britain, in good spirits amongst his friends and family.

Ed (and we) wanted to see if it was possible to survive without human company and, if so, for how long. Twelve weeks was our maximum expectation but when you watch the footage you’ll see that the time he did complete (7 weeks, or 50 days) is actually a phenomenal achievement.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/alone-in-the-wild

Cheerio

Steve

I've been wstching Ed which I'm a fan and I have say that my feelings were for him to give up because he was cold hungry and losing weight very rapidly and my concern was for his wellbeing.
I admire his sheer grit in nearly completing his challenge but overall his health is important and it comes first.
I'm glad that he is safe and with his family and friends and I would like to say well done Ed

I grew up on the edge of a National Forest (Oceola) and during that time spent most of my summers hiking it. Later I extended that to include the appalachians.

During this time I often spent 3-4 weeks at a time during the summer there by myself as usually I couldn't find a partner willing to go for that long.On several occasions I made trips without food supplies and to do so is very rough.

In addition Ed had the problem of having to obey local wildlife rules concerning the taking of game. This pretty much limited him to small ground squirrels and rabbits etc which have little or no fat which is much needed for energy. When you are in the wilderness you burn calories at a phenominal rate.

During the lewis and Clark exspedition the workers often ate 9,000 +calories a day in order to break even with the strenuous excercise they had to indure.

Though it's true Ed could have perhaps benifited with being more exsperienced in wilderness survival and trapping,hunting, and fishing skills and could definitely have benifited by being more familiar with the local area I think what he did was incredible in getting what food he did manage to get.

As to being lonely.For me it never was a problem as I enjoy time to myself but I have had friends who went with me on occasion and seen other hikers who suffer greatly after a week or two in country. This is not a weakness but simply the make up of an individual and for people to bash that part of this man is wrong.

All in all I think Ed did an incredible job and he did the right thing by knowing when to call it quits. You people who think you can strap a knife on your side and go out and do a Tarzen have never been out without supplies or you would never brag so much. Even Native American often suffered starvation and this when they could kill whatever they wanted and during a time when the forests were all virgin territory and game plentiful.

The realities of living in the wild are that your life span will be much shorter,your health much worse and your quality of life will suffer greatly. The wilderness is a nice place to visit for small visits and it should always be cherished but when someone starts beating their chest and bragging how they could live with no problem I just smile because I know there goes someone who has never tried it first hand or they base that belief because they went on a camping trip one weekend carrying a coleman stove and a box of poptarts and a cooler full of steaks and beer and that turned out ok.

The show has just wrapped tonight. It was quite a trip, and I must say, I grew affectionate for Ed as he continued to expose his real weaknesses, and emotions. He made me realize what a desensitized hermit I've become, how disattached from society I've grown to be. I could easily survive alone, and yet I'm not proud of such observation about myself. I wish I could be more like Ed.

ED....is a farce!!That moron couldn't survive a week in a hotel with all food and water supplied no less the canadian wilderness....IN FACT...he was only app. 15 miles from "help" at any time!!!THAT CRYBABY HAS NO SURVIVAL INSTINCT AT ALL.........AS FAR AS STARVEING,THOSE DUCKS AND SQUIRRELS WOULD HAVE BEEN "IN THE POT" REGARDLESS OF THE "LAW"!!!GET REAL........ALL HE DID WAS CRY AND BLUBBER LIKE A SISSY-BOY...I SERIOUSLY DOUBT HIS "RESUME" AND BELIEVE HE IS A PHONY!!!!GET A REAL JOB ED,I BET BURGER KING IS HIRING!!!

DANG DUDE! What's eating your backside?
I don't believe that Ed is a fake. I do believe that you have no idea of what you are saying. You think that you can do better? Why, because and your buddies roughed it at a KOA camp ground once. I don't care if he was only 15 miles from safety. That might as well be a 1000 miles and if you had ever been in the mountains you would know that.
I bet that you would be blubbering like a school girl if you went 5 days without a TV.
I can't wait for your film.

You are full of cynical balogna, ontos.
I'm sure you are full of "war stories" about your own survival adventures.
I'm also sure they never happened.
So pipe down Tarzan, eat your Big Mac.

Ed definitely was not prepared for this "adventure". It was total fulishness on his part by not preparing himself correctly. He did not fish the lake or stream correctly. He should have known what foliage could be eaten before he went in. He should have known local bait to use such as helgrimites, flies, bugs, etc. for fishing. He was definitely to analytical. If he didn't think so much about what he misses, and instead put his energy and thoughts into survival he would have made it. If you are going to cry, which is ok, then have a good cry, get over it and go out and fish, cut wood, make a better shelter, do something to make your life more productive. He maybe should have taken lessons from Les Stroud before going on this trek. Get better prepared then give another go. Look how the mtn men and fur trappers, settlers did in the old days. Most of them loved it. I know I would if I were younger.