Rick McFarland and Cathy Frye in her El Paso hospital room.Editor’s note: The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is sister paper to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
EL PASO, Texas – When family members called Monday to ask Rick McFarland if he needed people to sit with his wife, Cathy Frye, as she recovers at the University Medical Center in this west Texas city, he shook his head and answered quickly.
“I left her once, and I never want to leave her again,” he told them.
Frye, a reporter at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and McFarland, a photographer at the paper, were lost for several days in the Big Bend Ranch State Park on the western Texas border with Mexico while on a camping trip to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary.
McFarland made his way to a ranger station Friday after separating from Frye, who was too weak to continue.