A woman, who had been stranded by herself in the wilderness in northern Saskatchewan for over a week after the canoe she was in capsized, was located and rescued on Tuesday.
RCMP say the 62-year-old woman and her 66-year-old husband from Prince Albert were on Kinosaskaw Lake near Pinehouse when their canoe flipped over due to rapids.
The man died as a result of the accident.
The woman, who had made a fire at the mouth of the rapids and flagged down rescuers, was located about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The canoe and man’s body had been spotted earlier in the day by a person fishing east of a set of rapids called Needle Falls.
The woman was taken to the La Ronge hospital, treated and released without injuries.
Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) assisted the RCMP in the rescue.
CASARA pilot Paul Ricklefs of La Ronge says after getting to the area, the woman was found in a few minutes.
“We were dispatched to go to that location based on the coordinates that were given to us by the RCMP,” he says. “We just did a quick search and found an individual flagging us down with a fire. So we basically circled the area for a while. We contacted back to La Ronge and got a float plane dispatched to pick up the individual.”
Ricklefs says the action of the woman involved was a big help to searchers.
“Finding someone in the bush is tough. In this case, the survivor was well prepared. She had a fire going – a big fire – and also was flagging us down with fluorescent material. She knew what to do.”
This is the second time this week CASARA has been brought in for a search and rescue.
On Sunday, the organization assisted in a search and rescue of a woman who had gone missing in the Meadow Lake area while berry picking.
Police are not releasing the names of the woman or deceased man.