Saved by the Satellite

Rick Stephens acknowledges it was the wildest, most scenic hunting trip he’s ever been on.

In early September, the local RCMP constable flew into Dease Lake with hunting partner and friend Trent Bossence for a remote 12-day moose-hunting adventure with nothing but the vast expanse of trees and sky to keep them company.

On day seven, they finally got their moose. And then, in one split second, it all went wrong.

While skinning the back of the moose with his four-inch hunting knife, Stephens’ hand slipped, severing a tendon below his left knee. Stephens collapsed, blood pouring into his boot. “My leg was just dangling,” he recalls.

When it comes to hunting, Stephens oozes experience. “I’ve been hunting since I was 12,” says the now-35-year-old father of four. He hunts it all – goat, cariboo, bighorn sheep, deer. But the big prize has always been moose.

Every year, he collects his tags and readies for hunting season, but specifically the long trips away in the mountains. An expert woodsman, Stephens regularly travels to remote areas to hunt. This year found him 55 miles outside of Dease Lake, hours away from any civilization.

Neither Stephens nor Bossence once panicked. “I have a wife and four kids,” says Stephens. “I never once thought about dying. We didn’t panic and just got to work.”

It was 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 11, and Bossence, a Kitimat firefighter and paramedic, quickly found Stephens’ first-aid kit and wrapped the wound to try and slow the bleeding.

“It was getting close to dark, so we only had a small window of time,” Stephens said. That’s when he remembered his SPOT satellite GPS device. He found it on his belt and hit the button marked 911.

Bossence then slung his injured friend over his shoulder and left the moose, walking Stephens 300 feet to a sheltered area to prepare for a long, cold night on the mountain.

Joy Stephens was readying for a relaxing weekend when the phone rang. It was the GEOS emergency response centre, calling for vital details of her husband’s hunting trip.

“My heart sank,” Joy said. “I had no idea what was going on.”

After the employee assured her that his team had already contacted Dease Lake RCMP about the call, Joy called Trent’s wife Pam. The two got together and waited.

Their only solace was the steady phone calls from the emergency team with updates on the rescue process.

It was about 6:15 p.m. when the hunting duo heard the helicopter.

Every five minutes, Stephens’ SPOT device would signal out its precise coordinates, allowing the rescue team to find the two despite their move for shelter.

The men were airlifted off the mountain and flown to a Dease Lake medical centre, where Stephens was treated.

Soon after the rescue, Joy and Pam were notified and updated on their husbands’ conditions.

Stephens was brought to Kitimat General Hospital for surgery two days later. His tendon was repaired and he was immobilized for six weeks. He faces a six-month recovery.

Nearly two months later, the Stephens’ gather around their kitchen table, sipping coffee, and telling the story one more time.

The injured Stephens was glad he was prepared for the worst on his latest hunting trip, and remains ever-thankful to his friend Trent.

Joy points at her husband’s SPOT device. “I hate to be a salesperson, but this thing works,” she says.

He agrees. “I wouldn’t go anywhere without it. It’s a very simple device, and it has coverage almost anywhere.”

The SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger is unique, working outside of cell phone coverage using reliable commercial satellite technology. It is able to transmit coordinates from virtually anywhere.