A paraplegic man who says he was stranded in a US desert without his wheelchair dragged himself about 6.5km down a dirt road over three days before a motorist stopped to help him.

Tattered and dirty, Ricky Gilmore's blue jeans tell part of the story. His body tells the rest - the skin on his left leg and buttocks is shredded, his wrist is sprained and his kidneys are in bad shape from going without food and water.

Tattered and dirty ... Ricky Gilmore, 49, shows the pair of pants he was wearing when he dragged himself down a road for three days. Credit:AP

"Ah man, I'm just a big mess. I ache and I'm just in the first stages of healing," he said on Tuesday from his hospital bed at the Northern Navajo Medical Centre in Shiprock, New Mexico.

Gilmore, 49, is being treated for acute kidney failure from dehydration, a sprained wrist and a blood infection. He spent two days in intensive care and it could be at least another week before he can go home.