This helicopter was used during the rescue mission. (submitted photo/Cameron Spring)

By Derek Cornet

Search and Rescue

Rescued canoeist near Black Lake thought he wouldn’t survive the night

Sep 21, 2020 | 3:50 PM

A 26-year-old canoeist and his dog from Saskatoon who became stranded near Black Lake didn’t think he would make it through the night.

That’s according to Local Hero Foundation President Paul Spring, whose charity in partnership with Phoenix Heli-Flight Inc based in Fort McMurray, led the way in rescuing the man. The incident occurred Sept. 16 when shortly after 4 p.m. Black Lake RCMP were advised of an SOS activation a GPS device located on a remote waterway approximately 25 kilometres northeast of the community.

An RCMP press release states several local aviation companies were contacted to assist in the rescue, but none were able to travel and rescue the man in the dark. The location also was not accessible by land or water without several long portages.

“He had a Garmin satellite device that could text,” Spring said. “The RCMP after talking with us and search and rescue in Trenton, ON, we managed to get a message back to him saying, ‘if you can, light a fire or get a flashlight or any kind of a light source.’ We can see the light source from a long distance.”

Spring explained the canoeist was found in an area with heavy rapids and had somehow injured himself, fell in the water and lost most of his gear. He noted the man had an injury to his hand and lost a fair amount of blood. The overnight temperature reached a low of -6 C.

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The man was asked to light a small fire, which was easily spotted with night vision goggles. (submitted photo/Cameron Spring)

“So, he’s wet, doesn’t have a lot of gear and he’s injured,” Spring said. “It was a cold night and so we were worried about hypothermia. In one of his messages he texted that he didn’t think he was going to make it through the night.”

A four-person crew including two pilots and two medics ultimately arrived at the scene in a Airbus H135 T2 Plus using the aid of night vision goggles, but there was no spot suitable for landing. A paramedic was lowered to the ground to stabilize the male and there was a successful extraction of the man and dog just before midnight. The canoeist was transported to hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

“We don’t worry about figuring out any provincial border jurisdiction issues or costs, our job is to go save someone first and worry about all the details later,” Spring said, adding the helicopter is rarely used in northern Saskatchewan beyond La Loche. “It’s pretty rewarding when you get a good save like that.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno