In the UK, a man decided to run away and live in the woods for FIVE long years after he got fed up with his wife’s nagging.
Malcolm Applegate, from Birmingham, married his wife thirteen years ago, and just like most marriages, things started out well.
But when Malcolm, who works as a gardener, started to immerse himself in his work, his wife became so obsessed and controlling that one day, he just decided to pack his bags and leave.
“I was married to her for three years, but unfortunately it got too much,” Malcolm said. “For three years it was all right, we got on with one another and the gardening got too much for her. I just upped and left, I got fed up with her because we used to get so many arguments.”
While waiting for the divorce to be finalized, instead of seeking shelter at a friend’s or family’s house, Malcolm decided to simply disappear.
Malcolm said that he had initially planned to ride his bike to London, however, an unfortunate incident happened.
While making a stop in Oxford, thieves got hold of his bike, his only means of transportation, and everything went downhill from there.
Malcolm then finally decided to settle in a wooded area near Kingston —a town that lies southwest of London. He camped in the forest throughout the nights while working on gardens during the day as a means of livelihood.
“There were three of us camping,” Malcolm said. “They were just camping around with me because at the time I was working in the center and we used to go there for a wash and a shower.”
“No one knew we were there,” he said. “It’s not well known, nobody would go in there.”
The camping days then turned into months and the months into years. Before Malcolm knew it, he had been camping in the woods for five long years since the day he ran away from his wife.
Malcolm contacted his worried family to let them know that he was doing fine.
Until one day, Malcolm finally decided to emerge from hiding. He then moved into Emmaus Greenwich, a shelter for homeless people to live, work, and rebuild their lives.
When asked about his relationship with his ex-wife, he said: “It had been a decade year since I’d last seen her, and in that time she had been to all of the Salvation Army hostels in the south trying to find me.”
“I think she assumed I was dead,” he said. “I wrote her a letter once I was settled in Greenwich, and she phoned me up, in floods of tears. We now have a great relationship again.”