A French documentary filmmaker has described how a herd of goats saved his life after he was stranded for five days in the jungle of East Timor. Morgan Segui, 43, suffered a fractured skull, broken arm, broken fingers and a shattered foot after falling 40 metres from a cliff on Mount Manucoco on Atauro Island in 2019.
Segui, a former acrobat, had been climbing the sacred mountain alone when he became lost in the late afternoon heat with an empty water bottle. He slid off the cliff and landed at the bottom of a dry gorge, where he lay for three days without water. 'I was considering myself stuck forever,' he told the Mirror. 'No way to climb up this cliff again, especially with a scalped head, a broken arm and fractured heel.'
On the fifth night, a herd of goats approached him. 'The youngest touched my nose with her nose, a kind of goat hug I presume,' he said. 'They suddenly climbed the cliff, under the moonlight, showing me the right path to reach the top. Not a stupid climber straight way to the top, but a smart, zigzag goat trail.' Segui said his greatest fear was 'dying in a place where no one will find me' and that he felt 'sad for my kids'.
Despite the ordeal, Segui remains keen to explore but says he will not do so alone in future. 'Try to walk in real nature, forest or mountain, or swim in cold sea – not alone, with good friends in a safe place,' he advised. He added that the experience gave him a 'second chance' and helped him build a deeper connection with the land, curing some childhood problems. 'Falling from a cliff and surviving five days without water is a chance to appreciate life more than ever,' he said.
