Believing death was near, a Vancouver hiker wrote his essential details on his forearm while he lay stranded on the backside of Grouse Mountain.
Michael St. Laurent, 45, was airlifted to Lions Gate Hospital from the Hanns Valley area 8 a.m. yesterday after nine days without sufficient equipment, food or water.
An off-duty rescue worker was jogging with her boyfriend Saturday when she found St. Laurent delusional and extremely dehydrated.
She was able to access supplies at a nearby emergency cache and immediately administered first aid to St. Laurent’s frostbite, and provided him hot drinks and warm clothes.
A North Shore Search and Rescue team joined the couple, but due to failing light and St. Laurent’s extremely poor condition, they decided to camp overnight.
“If we would’ve attempted to get him down that night, we would’ve driven him to his death,” said Tim Jones, search manager for North Shore Rescue.
Jones said it is rare to camp overnight as most people can be rehydrated and carried down in a stretcher, but St. Laurent was too weak.
“He was completely exhausted,” Jones said. “The goal was to get him re-hydrated and to sleep.”
Jones said St. Laurent was completely unprepared. He hadn’t told anyone of his route and did not even know the trail he had taken.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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