How far would I go?

A San Francisco based editor for C|net - James Kim - was found dead early this week in the wilderness of Oregon. A family trip gone bad. One wrong turn on the freeway, and the family - wife, two kids (4yrs, 7 months) - got stuck in their car. A week later, James walks out of the car to look for help. The search crews found the wife and kids - safe - in the car two day later. Two days after that, they found James Kim's body.

While I didn't know James Kim or his work, his death leaves me with a heavy heart, and a question - How far would I go?

I have a family similar to James' - wife, two little kids - and routinely drive long distances with my family in our car. The situation this family found themselves in, is not entirely implausible. So, How far would I go? Would I go as far as this man did to protect his family and his kids?

How far did he go?

• Hunger: The family survived with limited food supplies for an entire week
• Cold: The family tried to stay warm in sub-zero weather by staying inside their car and using the car heater
• Colder: Once the gas ran out, the family burnt the car tires to stay warm
• Time: After 7 days of frozen hell, James decides that he has to go out and get some help. He sets out , promising to be back in 5 hours
• James probably gets lost. At this point, he starts taking off his extra layers of clothes - perhaps leaving them as a marker for his family - and keeps walking
• When the crew finds him four days later, they reckon he walked 10 miles in all

Would I be able to go this distance? No food, no heat, no water, no sleep, just walking around trying to look for help to keep my family alive? How many days?

I hope I have the strength, and I certainly hope I don't have to find out.

RIP James Kim. Thanks for keeping hope alive.