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‘It’s just amazing.’ North Van senior rescued after 24 hours in the bush

Rescue crews in the field. file photo Mike Wakefield, North Shore News North Shore Rescue says a local senior was lucky to have survived more than 24 hours alone and lost in a wooded area.

 Rescue crews in the field. file photo Mike Wakefield, North Shore NewsRescue crews in the field. file photo Mike Wakefield, North Shore News

North Shore Rescue says a local senior was lucky to have survived more than 24 hours alone and lost in a wooded area.

North Vancouver RMCP alerted the public to the missing 75-year-old on Friday afternoon. He was last seen at the Ron Andrews Rec Centre, where he typically gets a ride home. On Thursday, he’d planned to take the bus but when a relative went to check on him the next morning, it was apparent he never came home. The man is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and needs daily medication.

On Friday afternoon, police called in North Shore Rescue to carry out an urban search.

Search managers were still organizing teams to go out on foot and look for him when longtime North Shore Rescue member Stan Soudat, who lives in the area, volunteered to head out on his bike on the nearby trails in hopes of finding any sign.

Within 45 minutes, while the rest of the team was still getting ready to deploy, Soudat radioed in to say he’d made voice contact with the lost man.

“It’s truly amazing. He was riding the trails and just yelling for this individual. The individual called back to him,” said Mike Danks, North Shore Rescue team leader. “This guy was way off the trail. He was right in McCartney Creek. Thank god the creek was dry. But he was under a log in there… He had basically got off trail and he just kept moving and thrashing through the bush. He was all scratched up on his legs and his arms.”

Danks said the man was in rough shape. And he had little hope of finding his way out under his own strength. It required a rope rescue team to get him up the creek bank. B.C. Ambulance crews and North Vancouver RCMP members were on hand to help.

“Honestly, we’re so lucky that we found this guy. Because of where he was, the odds were not good for him. He spent 24 hours out there. He was dehydrated, hungry. He was off his meds.”

The man was confused but, Danks said, he appeared to be aware of the gravity of the situation.

“He was incredibly grateful,” Danks said.

North Shore Rescue is increasingly tasked with so-called silver alerts – when a person with dementia wanders off.

Danks said the call shows the value of having a rescue team with strong local knowledge.

Read more from the North Shore News