A Nanaimo couple known for documenting their off-road adventures have died after their vehicle went off a mountain trail in the West Kootenays on Thursday.
The deaths of Stacey Tourout and Matthew Yeomans were confirmed by family on social media.
Colleen Tourout, Stacey’s mother, said in a social media post that the couple died due to injuries following an off-road accident. “They are together forever, as we knew they would always be.”
The couple ran Toyota World Runners, a YouTube channel with 200,000 subscribers that documented their conversion of a 1976 Toyota Chinook into a 4x4 off-road vehicle, and their road trips through the Americas.
Kaslo Search and Rescue crews were called to a serious motor vehicle rollover incident off a mountain trail about 7,000 feet in elevation in the Purcell Range near Trout Lake at around 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 7.
Ground teams were dispatched and a local helicopter and pilot was enlisted for air support.
“We were able to fly direct to the scene and do whatever we were able to do to assist the surviving member of the couple,” said Mark Jennings-Bates, a manager with Kaslo Search and Rescue.
Crews arrived on scene and found one person with no vital signs and a second person away from the crash site, disoriented and with serious injuries. She was airlifted to Nakusp Hospital and later died of her injuries.
Jennings-Bates said crews did what they could. “It’s very sad that we couldn’t do more to help.”
There was a delay to the rescue as it was an area with no cell service. A motorist made the 25-kilometre drive to Trout Lake to borrow a homeowner’s landline to call 911.
While a smart device was able to send out an alert from near the scene, those alerts go to a U.S.-based call centre where it needs to be read, transcribed, and sent back to Canada, which causes a delay, Jennings-Bates said.
“If you have a way to call 911 as well, that’s going to activate a little more quickly than the alert.”
> See ROLLOVER, A2
Colin Stuart, a fellow off-road content creator from Duncan who was with the couple at the time, said he did everything in his power to try to save them. “Those were the hardest 20 hours I have ever lived. The hardest decisions I have ever had to make,” he said in a post on social media.
Stuart declined to be interviewed Tuesday, saying that he wants to consult with family before speaking to reporters.
Jennings-Bates said the couple’s accident was unusual as they were in a “well-modified” vehicle meant for back-country travel. The area usually sees rescue calls coming from tourists riding side-by-side utility terrain vehicles.
“This couple obviously has got a lot of experience, and usually you’ll find groups like this are prepared for self-rescue — but not when it’s 200 metres down a steep slope,” he said.
Yeomans and Tourout became engaged last year during a trip in South America.
In their engagement post, Yeomans said he knew right away he wanted to be with Tourout forever.
“After our first date, I knew I could spend my life with this girl. Driving the length of the Americas in a rig that we built has made us into a remarkable team,” he wrote.
They were on the road and he’d left the ring in Canada so he drew one on her finger with a Sharpie, figuring it would be a good story to tell their future children.
Tributes poured in on social media for the couple, with dozens of posts describing them as inspiring and extraordinary.
— With files from the Vancouver Sun
