Hank Morello, 84, was stranded in a ravine near Cave Creek for five nights.

The Anthem man didn't have a lot to survive on. For food, he had leftover pasta. Shelter was his car, which was lodged in the ditch. And all he had for water was the windshield wiper fluid.

"I just sat there wishing for something to happen, wishing for someone to find me," Morello said on Tuesday at John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital, where he was recovering. Hikers found Morello on Saturday in relatively good condition.

Morello suffers from diabetes and a bit of dementia. He left his favorite restaurant in Cave Creek, Harold's Corral, Monday night and made a wrong turn on his way home. He said he tried to turn around to go back, but ran into a ravine where he became stuck near Bloody Basin Road and Interstate 17.

His phone's battery ran down before he could get a signal to call for help and his car battery ran out soon after.

"My phone went dead, my battery went dead, and I went dead," Morello said.

Morello tried to walk to get help but fell when he got out of the car so he decided to stay with the car.

He had only a small portion of pasta with him, which he did not eat because it made him thirsty. When his thirst got strong enough, he broke the top off of the windshield wiper fluid container and drank the liquid.

Morello used the floor mats in his car as blankets at night. Knowing the people would be looking for him, Morello broke off pieces of chrome from his car and put them on the roof so he could be spotted from the air.

Morello said he was most scared at night when it was cold. He doubted he could have lasted another day.

"This is it," he said he thought to himself on the fifth day. "If they don't find me today, I can't last another night."

While he was stranded, he said he read the owners manual to his car from cover to cover.

And he prayed. He had a prayer card for Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost things, and he prayed to him.

Morello's nephew, Carl Morello, spoke at the news conference at the hospital. Carl is a Catholic priest from Chicago, and was in Arizona with other family members to be with Morello. He carried a cross that a family friend had made for Morello saying that it was a perfect symbol for what he went through.

"Prayers do get answered, and miracles still do happen," Carl said.

Carl added that all of Morello's friends and family in Chicago and Arizona were also praying for him to Saint Anthony when they found out that he was missing.

Randy Folts and Jim Sheehan, friends of Morello from Cave Creek organized rescue parties for Morello with up to 75 volunteers. Folts and Sheehan printed fliers, searched on the ground and from the air and coordinated searches with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

The men consider Morello their adopted grandfather and best friend. They never lost hope for finding Morello.

"Hank wasn't going to give up, so we weren't going to give up," Folts said.

Morello was found Saturday morning by a group of hikers. Morello was asked what he said to the hikers when he was found.

"I just kissed him," Morello said.

The friends plan to keep closer tabs on Morello from now on.

"He's going to be our copilot for a long time," Sheehan said.

Dr. Kevin Veale, the emergency doctor who first treated Morello, said he was worried about Morello's condition before he got to the hospital because of the windshield wiper fluid that he drank. He said he feared internal damage, but Morello was fine.

"He was in really good condition considering what he'd been through," Veale said.

Morello should be released from the hospital in a few days.

Morello said he plans go back to Harold's soon and that he'll never leave his home again without water and matches.

"I want to drive again, but those guys want to take my car away," Morello said. "They've got another thing coming."