{"id":60860,"date":"2025-08-11T06:55:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T06:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/60860\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T06:55:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T06:55:06","slug":"missing-b-c-mans-creative-survival-skills-including-drinking-pond-water-keeps-him-alive-in-wilderness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/60860\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing B.C. man\u2019s creative survival skills including drinking pond water keeps him alive in wilderness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A picture provided by Quesnel Search and Rescue shows the makeshift shelter he built for himself out of wood and mud with the shelter leaning up against a rock with the word ‘Help’ scrawled on it.HO\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Staff Sgt. Brad McKinnon of the Williams Lake RCMP said he has seen \u201csome very exceptional things\u201d during his 20 years in policing, but the story of 39-year-old Andrew Barber could have had a very different ending. <\/p>\n

McKinnon said a police helicopter coming from Prince George spotted the man in the afternoon of Aug. 8 in a remote area north of McLeese Lake \u2013 nine days after he was first reported missing to RCMP on July 31. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe had sustained an injury to his right leg, and he was severely dehydrated,\u201d McKinnon said. <\/p>\n

But Barber knew how to help himself. A picture posted on Facebook by Quesnel Search and Rescue shows the makeshift shelter he built for himself out of wood and mud with the shelter leaning up against a rock with the word \u201cHelp\u201d scrawled on it. <\/p>\n

It was at that location where rescuers eventually found Barber, not far from where his truck had broken down while travelling on a forest service road. <\/p>\n

Once stabilized with assistance from police on scene and Quesnel Search and Rescue members, Barber was flown out by helicopter and transported by ambulance to Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake, from which he has been since released, McKinnon said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m told, he is doing quite well,\u201d McKinnon said. <\/p>\n

But the story could have had a different outcome, given Barber\u2019s lack of water. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was literally slurping unclean pond water to stay hydrated,\u201d McKinnon said. \u201cThe human body can go a long time without food, but water is a different situation.\u201d <\/p>\n

McKinnon said Barber also \u201cmunched on whatever he could find\u201d during his time in the woods. <\/p>\n

McKinnon also praised the work of the RCMP\u2019s various partners in the search, including Quesnel Search and Rescue. \u201cToday\u2019s result is why we train, why we respond, and why we never give up,\u201d the group posted on Facebook. <\/p>\n

McKinnon said he cannot answer how close the search for Barber came to turning into a recovery mission. \u201cI\u2019ll put it this way \u2013 had we not found him when we did, I would have had graver concerns than I currently do,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had been at this for nine days, and it was essentially like looking for a needle in a haystack,\u201d he added. \u201cThe Cariboo region of British Columbia is beautiful, but it is immense, and there are tons of rural and wilderness areas.\u201d <\/p>\n

McKinnon said it is not clear why Barber was in the area described as \u201cboggy\u201d and remote, but his \u201cabove average understanding of the wilderness\u201d and ingenuity contributed to his survival. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe human drive to survive is a powerful thing,\u201d McKinnon said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A picture provided by Quesnel Search and Rescue shows the makeshift shelter he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-60860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}