Argentine officials out recording snow levels discovered Gomez Circunegui in a shelter 2,840 meters above sea level. After the shelter had run out of leftover supplies, he subsisted on sugar, rats and raisins.
Gomez Circunegui lost 44 pounds during his winter isolation, and was found to be dehydrated.
"The truth is that this is a miracle. We still can't believe it," San Juan governor Jose Luis Gioja told the local Diario de Cuyo newspaper.
"He's a patient with high blood pressure, a history of smoking and signs of undernourishment," the doctor said, but added that "he's going to be fine and in a few days we're going to discharge him."
"We let him talk to his wife, his mother and his daughter," Gioja said. "I asked him: 'Are you a believer?' He told me, 'no, but now I am'."
