Editor's Note: Inaccuracies relating to the age of the surviving gentleman and the time taken to drive from Black Point Store to Khartoum Lake have now been corrected in this story.
A conservation officer, who police say was instrumental in the rescue of a hypothermic man on the shore of Khartoum Lake, said the credit should go to those who assisted him.
“I realize that the RCMP give me a lot of credit here, but really there was a whole lot of people who had something to do with saving this gentleman,” said Andrew Anaka, BC conservation officer.
Anaka helped locate a 44-year-old man on Thursday, January 22, after two men were reported overdue from a fishing trip in Powell River’s backcountry.
Police contacted Anaka at about 9:30 am requesting help to locate the men.
“It’s not our mandate in the conservation service to be involved in search and rescue, but this time of year I know where people like to fish,” said Anaka in an interview with the Peak.
He told police that if they were at most of the lakes, they would have walked out and got picked up by forestry crews working in the area that morning. As they had not yet been found, Anaka deduced “the most likely thing is that they are at Khartoum Lake. The fishing this time of year is exceptional. It’s the most popular and the furthest off the beaten track.”
Coming over the mountain toward the lake he saw the overturned aluminum fishing boat, which gave him an ominous feeling, he said. Anaka located the men’s vehicle and notified the police who called in Powell River Search and Rescue.
Anaka said that he yelled, but did not hear any response. He decided he couldn’t wait three hours, the amount of time he thought it would take for searchers to arrive on scene. He then made his way over to West Coast Fish Culture, the fish hatchery on Lois Lake, for help.
Hatchery workers dropped what they were doing to assist, Anaka said. They met him back at Khartoum with a 24-foot skiff which they proceeded to use in the search.
They found a couple of life jackets floating near the overturned boat. Then a little way up the lake they discovered the 44-year-old man soaking wet, without shoes, huddled against the rock wall.
“For about 200 metres on each side it was just sheer rock bluff,” said Anaka. “There was no place to get out of the water, except this one spot where he was.”
Anaka estimates that the severely hypothermic man spent 22 hours wet, stranded on the shore. “That’s a long time to be wet in this weather,” he added. “He could barely move.”
Though in a hypothermic condition and confused about how long he had been there, Anaka said the man explained that the boat had flipped over and he saw his friend, also 44 years old, go into the water, but said he didn’t think he made it.
The man was transported by boat back to his vehicle, from where Anaka radioed the RCMP again and asked to have an ambulance meet them at the Black Point Store. A first aid attendant from the hatchery rode along with Anaka as they transported him down to the highway, a journey of approximately 45 minutes.
Anaka then returned to Khartoum Lake with the RCMP and joined the volunteers from Powell River Search and Rescue, who had arrived on scene and set up a mobile command unit. There were at least a dozen volunteers on the ground and in a boat searching the lake shore, Anaka said, for the second missing man.
Anaka said the survivor needs to be given a lot of credit for pulling through the ordeal. He was wearing some of the right clothes, some wool and polyester, and he had the right attitude to survive the cold. “If it had been a couple of degrees colder he would not have had a chance,” Anaka added.
The assistance received from the fish hatchery workers, particularly their first aid attendant, played a key role in the rescue. “I’m impressed by everyone who was involved in this,” he said.
Names of the men involved in the fishing accident have not yet been released by police or coroner.
