A hiker who went missing five weeks ago was found alive this week in the remote wilderness of northwestern Canada.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) says two men spotted Sam Benastick on their way to the Redfern Lake trail for work in Redfern-Kiely Provincial Park.
The men told police they recognized Benastick as the hiker everyone had been looking for, so they took him to the hospital.
Benastick was reported missing on Oct. 19 after failing to return from a backcountry trip to the park.
RCMP says Sam told police that he stayed in his car for a couple of days and then walked to a creek on the mountainside side where he camped out for 10-15 days. Then moved down the valley and built a camp and shelter in a dried-out creek bed. He then made his way to where he flagged down the two men and was rescued.
The 20-year-old survived incredibly harsh conditions. Temperatures in the park dropped to -4 Fahrenheit while he was missing, according to BBC News.
“Finding Sam alive is the absolute best outcome. After all the time he was missing, it was feared that this would not be the outcome, said Cpl. Madonna Saunderson, BC RCMP Communications in a news release.
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