Mother's day search for father and son

News - Search

Sunday, 13 May 2007

Coquitlam SAR was paged at approximately 5:30 PM on Sunday May 13th (Mother's Day) to search for a missing father and son mountain biking in the Woodland's Walk area on Burke Mountain. 22 members responded, including many who were due in Chilliwack the following day for a week long flood rescue training course. The team had cell phone contact with the subjects, which was of limited use since they did not know where they were.

Teams were sent into the field in the Woodland walk area, and bicycle tracks were discovered in a gully area. Searchers had to descend quite a way to make voice contact with the subjects. They were brought out to the trailhead by midnight.

In a letter published in the Vancouver Province, and the Now News newspaper on Friday May 18th, the Father writes:

I would like to say a huge thank you to the members of the Coquitlam Search and Rescue (SAR).

I was lost with my son on Burke Mountain Sunday afternoon, May 13. From the time I contacted Al at SAR headquarters in the afternoon until the evening when we were rescued, my son and I were strengthened by the efforts and concerns of the team. We couldn't have been happier to see the search lights of the rescue team.

A special thanks to Liz, Arthur and Richard who were our heroes - they even rescued our mountain bikes. Every member we met was awesome.

The Coquitlam RCMP were also very helpful, and thank you to them.

I learned that SAR members are all unpaid volunteers and even pay for their own rescue gear. I think that these members should get some sort of relief when it comes to paying for their gear - maybe a tax credit or program.

I will be making a donation, as can anyone via their website.

Until you are in a position of being lost, you never know how valuable these folks are. I hope more people become aware of the great people of SAR and their efforts.

Michael Chernoff,
Port Coquitlam

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