So how is Dave Nessia doing?

Wow! For those of you that have seen the latest episode of Alone, you saw the struggle was REAL for Dave Nessia. The happy go-lucky guy shrank over 40lbs during the 73 days that he was on the show into a surprisingly still optimistic, but incredibly physically depleted man that had to be medically evacuated from the show.

The episode did a really neat job of telling some of Dave’s story and reasoning for being on the show. For Dave, this experience was incredibly meaningful and much like the ultimate “vision quest”.  He had a bucket of fish stashed away, and as you hear him describe his strategy, he had a plan to eat a half of a fish every day, estimating out loud that he had a couple more months left before he’d need to tap out.

Unfortunately for Dave, he had much less time left on the show than expected. It was a very emotional moment to watch when he hears the news that he’s being forced to medically evacuate. In the tips at the bottom of the screen, you see where the Alone show editors point out that sometimes if they’re starving people will hoard food when they should be eating it. This is what happened to Dave.

After the show aired, a lot of folks were curious about how Dave is doing now. Luckily he posted a public post on his personal facebook page that does a great job of explaining how he’s doing. I’ve embedded the post and copied the text below so you can read it here.

Quoted text from the above facebook post written by Dave Nessia:

“Hello wonderful people!!!!For those that were following “Alone” and watching this crazy and amazing path, THANK YOU!!!! Your support and presence has been so inspiring. So nice to touch base with people that I haven’t heard from in decades! Our paths might not be the same as it was but we have each other in our hearts and always will.

Ok, now what people are most certainly waiting to hear.
My experience:))))
The producers had hundreds of hours of footage to work with to make a story that fit into this show.
I do not envy them the task and I respect what they did. It all happened and I can honestly say the Experience in Patagonia, in many ways, was so much easier then watching the show for me. That boiled down to my own ego, I wanted to be the hero:)))). I went out there for many reasons, to test myself, to learn, to grow closer to myself and the earth, to feel life, to Live, to show people this could be done and that you could be comfortable with the land (The money was a secondary bonus). What I saw in the beginning episodes didn’t show that for me and I kept going deeper into a place of dread at how they would show me physically deteriorate in front of my friends and families. And yes, you saw me deteriorate 🙂))). Above all I wanted to be there! Of course there were moments of loneliness, sadness, hunger, but I placed all of them into individual moments and I knew that society and friends were not going anywhere. Watching the last episode was so freeing in so many ways. Of course it was closure but more then that I finally felt heard. “I felt Alive”.

I am trying to think of what people want to understand about that experience. By the time I left I had 42 smoked fish fillets, appoximately: 2lbs of wild mushrooms, numberous greens, 1lb of peanuts and raisins 1lb of flour, 1lb beans, 1lb of duck fat(flour and duck fat were considered survival items). I was regularly eating these items and storing them for long term use. I felt great mentally and spiritually and did not realize how far I had deteriorated physically until I looked in the mirror at the hospital. They were right to pull me.
Would I do this experience again, YES! I would eat more from the start and double my efforts in hunting the boar and baited my boar traps with fish heads. Fowler’s deck, shelter and duck boat traps were great ideas that I would love to expound on.
I had carved a chess set and a half, and two foxes, fly fishing rod, racks, slings, blinds and traps. Talking to the camera while carving was one of my nightly pleasures along with yoga nights every other evening.I caught 36 fish in total from 13″ to 19″ mostly Rainbow Trout. Baiting wasn’t working well for me in my area so the majority of them were caught with a bone lure.
There were discrepancies on the timelines of the scenes and sound effects were added. My friend Zack was portrayed in a very negative light and I feel for his journey.
I am proud of my journey and the outcome. It was a Vision Quest of Vision Quests and I hope to continue my mentorship with the land. I have a Lot to learn:))))!

I appreciate your further support and comments but know I am a bit overwhelmed by Facebook:).
At this point I am hoping to center a bit so please don’t be upset if I step away from Facebook for a time. It has helped me touch all of your lives again and I cherish that. I just get overloaded quick and need the simplicity of the outdoors for a while. Hope to see many of you at Winter Count. We’ll talk again:)
Love you all, Dave”

So it seems like Dave is doing pretty well, thank goodness! I think myself and many of the fans of the Alone show would have liked to have seen more footage of the neat things Dave was up to – and maybe we’ll get to hear from him in the future.  Did you see that elaborate chess set he had carved? It was beautiful!

If you want to follow Dave online, it looks like he does have a Youtube channel, although it’s not very active. Maybe we’ll see more from him in the future!