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For someone who was stranded in a blizzard for three days, it’s a blessing Peter Qayutinuak Jr. is alive – let alone coming away without a single sign of frostbite.
“They sent me straight to the health centre and the nurse and the police, they were very surprised,” he said.
Qayutinuak was part of a group of five Nunavut residents who were heading from Taloyoak to Gjoa Haven on snowmobiles on Apr. 7 for a volleyball tournament.
There was a blizzard and they tried to beat it, but Qayutinuak ended up getting separated from the group.
“I told them to go ahead and I was gonna follow them and make sure they’re good from behind. And that’s when as soon as they left, my skidoo got stuck,” he said.
So Qayutinuak was forced to head to Gjoa Haven by foot. He says he only took short naps, and he tried to walk at night so he could see the town’s lights from afar.
But visibility was poor with continued blizzards, and the community lost power for several days.
Qayutinuak had no food, no shelter, as he wandered in -30 C temperatures, but he says he’s used to the cold.
“I purposely would get cold in town just to get used to keep moving and walking, trying to stay warm,” he said. “I would use my back to cover the wind … I moved my feet, wiggle my feet and both my hands too, to stay warm. That’s what my grandmother used to tell me to do.”
And it was the thought of those in his life that kept him going.
“I was mainly thinking of my family and my friends and the people back home that really look up to me,” he said.
Among those friends is Adrien Karoo, one of his teammates who managed to reach Gjoa Haven and sought help.
“It is terrifying, but it is a good experience to lead and try to be an example to keep moving forward,” he said.
David Lavallee, a civilian public affairs officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force, says a CC-130H Hercules was deployed from Winnipeg Apr. 9 – at the request of Nunavut Emergency Management. Crews used a cellular airborne sensor for search and rescue (CASSAR) to look for Qayutinuak.
“CASSAR is a mobile system that focuses on a missing person’s cellphone signal as a beacon, helping to identify their location and to find them faster in emergency situations,” Lavallee said.
Qayutinuak says his phone was nearly dead when the air crews located him, so they dropped a radio to communicate with him as ground search and rescue crews went to pick him up.
But again, there was a blizzard, and Qayutinuak said rescuers almost missed him.
“I took a short nap. I heard a skidoo and my eyes were still waking up, so I didn’t know which way it was coming from, but I followed my ears and followed which direction they came from,” he said.
Qayutinuak says he was ecstatic when he made it back to safety – as were pretty much all of Taloyoak and Gjoa Haven. So was his family.
“They were very happy, and they ended up crying,” he said.
Despite the harrowing journey, they still carried on as planned with the volleyball tournament, and on Sunday, they took home the gold.
It’s a testament to the team’s tenacity, and Qayutinuak has advice for others who find themselves in a similar situation.
“If you’re lost, try to stay positive and always keep moving, and keep moving your hands and your feet to stay warm.”
