Survival in the Snow

This was a winter to remember for Michael Brady of Regina, Saskatchewan, who got lost in a snowstorm on December 29 while driving home from a friend’s rural farm. Matters quickly got worse when his van became stuck in a snowbank. Brady is paraplegic and uses a wheelchair to get around.

Brady was stranded for two nights in temperatures that dipped below zero. He had no cell phone to call for help, and nothing to eat or drink except for a couple of lollipops. He was lucky, though. His two dogs, Koko and Willie, huddled with him, keeping their owner warm with their body heat. And although Brady wasn’t sure how much gas he could use before running completely dry, he periodically ran the motor to generate heat.

At one point, Brady heard on the radio that a search had been launched to rescue him. However, no one came, and Brady finally decided to go for help himself. He set off in his wheelchair. But the snow-covered terrain was treacherous. When he reached drifts that he simply couldn’t wheel through, he had to get out and drag both himself and his wheelchair through the snow.

Not long after, a farmer discovered his van and knew immediately that he’d found Michael Brady’s vehicle. He followed the wheelchair tracks and caught up to Brady about a kilometre away.

"Am I glad to see you!" Brady declared, adding later to a CBC News reporter that "I don’t know if I said it as much as cried it."

Any New Year’s resolutions for Michael Brady? He plans to keep supplies such as water, blankets and a cell phone in his vehicle from now on. And old friends have gained a renewed priority in his life - he caught up with several of them by phone on January 1 after his ordeal.