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The incredible story of a hermit: Lives for 40 years isolated without electricity and running water

For almost 40 years, Ken Smith has turned his back on conventional life and lives without it electricity or running water in a hut on the shores of a secluded lake in Scotland. “It’s a beautiful life. “Everyone wishes they could do it, but no one ever does.”, he says.

Not everyone agrees that his isolated lifestyle, searching for food, fishing, collecting firewood and washing his clothes in an old outdoor bathroom is ideal. And especially at the age of 74, which is the same.

THE hut It is a two-hour walk from the nearest road, Lake Treig. “It is known as the lonely lake. “There is no road here but they lived here before the dam was built,” he told the BBC.

Filmmaker Lizzie Mackenzie first came in contact with Ken 9 years ago and for the past two years has recorded him for the BBC Scotland documentary “The Hermit of Treig”.

The gang attack that changed his life

Ken, who hails from Dermisair, says he started working at the age of 15, building fire stations.

At 26, his life changed. A gang beat him during a night out and he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. For 23 days he was unconscious.

“They said I would never recover. “They said I would never speak again.” “They said I would never walk, but I did. And then I decided that I would never live on someone else’s terms but on my ownHe adds.

So he started the journey and became interested in the idea of ​​nature. When he was in the Scottish Highlands, he knew he had found the place he wanted to stay. So he started building his hut…

Four decades later, he still lives in that hut, without electricity, running water or gas and definitely without a cell phone signal.

He grows vegetables and picks berries, but his main source of food comes from the lake. “If you want to learn how to live an independent life, all you have to do is learn to fish.”, says.

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