Staff Sgt. Brad McKinnon of the Williams Lake RCMP said he has seen "some very exceptional things" during his 20 years in policing, but the story of 39-year-old Andrew Barber could have had a very different ending.
McKinnon said a police helicopter coming from Prince George spotted the man in the afternoon of Aug. 8 in a remote area north of McLeese Lake — nine days after he was first reported missing to RCMP on July 31.
"He had sustained an injury to his right leg, and he was severely dehydrated," McKinnon said.
But Barber knew how to help himself. A picture posted on Facebook by Quesnel Search and Rescue shows the makeshift shelter he built for himself out of wood and mud with the shelter leaning up against a rock with the word "Help" scrawled on it.
It was at that location where rescuers eventually found Barber, not far from where his truck had broken down while travelling on a forest service road.
Once stabilized with assistance from police on scene and Quesnel Search and Rescue members, Barber was flown out by helicopter and transported by ambulance to Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake, from which he has been since released, McKinnon said.
"I'm told, he is doing quite well," McKinnon said.
But the story could have had a different outcome, given Barber's lack of water.
"He was literally slurping unclean pond water to stay hydrated," McKinnon said. "The human body can go a long time without food, but water is a different situation."
McKinnon said Barber also "munched on whatever he could find" during his time in the woods.
McKinnon also praised the work of the RCMP's various partners in the search, including Quesnel Search and Rescue. "Today's result is why we train, why we respond, and why we never give up," the group posted on Facebook.
McKinnon said he cannot answer how close the search for Barber came to turning into a recovery mission. "I'll put it this way — had we not found him when we did, I would have had graver concerns than I currently do," he said.
"We had been at this for nine days, and it was essentially like looking for a needle in a haystack," he added. "The Cariboo region of British Columbia is beautiful, but it is immense, and there are tons of rural and wilderness areas."
McKinnon said it is not clear why Barber was in the area described as "boggy" and remote, but his "above average understanding of the wilderness" and ingenuity contributed to his survival.
"The human drive to survive is a powerful thing," McKinnon said.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Quesnel Search and Rescue
