Call it dumb luck or a strange twist of fate, but an area resident is alive today because four young men from Sheridan Lake decided to drive along the gas pipeline to Lone Butte on their way home on June 12.
Sean Ruscheinsky says they had been "four-by-fouring" on the back roads with some friends, and around 4 a.m., their buddies turned around to go home.
"We thought it would be faster to carry on down the pipeline to Lone Butte. I don't know why ... we just thought that's the way we'd go."
When they first saw a dark outline in front of them, he says they thought it was a bear, but then they realized it was an ATV. As they got closer, the 21-year-old adds they saw legs sticking up over the upright quad.
Noting they were between three and four kilometres along the pipeline from the Highway 24 side, Ruscheinsky says all four of them - him, his brother, Steven, Devon Cleverley and Jesse Granberg - jumped out of the truck to attend to the fallen ATV rider.
"At first, it didn't seem like he was alive. We shook him and started talking to him and then he started coming around."
Sean says the older man was lying on his back and it looked like he had some facial damage but they weren't sure. The rider looked like he had some chipped teeth and dried blood on his mouth, he adds.
He adds Steven and Jesse both called 9-1-1 and were talking to two different people but weren't sure where they were exactly.
"They wanted us to meet them at Highway 24 and I knew where we were, so Jesse and I went to meet the police, and Devon and Steven stayed with the guy to try to keep him awake.
"They put their sweaters on him because it was cold. I guess he was trying to move but they stop him from doing that."
Sean says it took about 20 minutes to meet the RCMP officers and another 20 back to the accident scene.
He notes the ambulance was next on the scene and the attendant said the guy had a case of hypothermia because he had been out there for a while.
"We put him on a [spine] board, hauled him into the ambulance and then they cranked the heat and tried to get him warm."
Shortly after that, Sean says a fire truck arrived and then another RCMP vehicle showed up.
Then, the emergency services personnel decided to call in a helicopter to airlift the victim out. After finding a spot, Sean says the firefighters cut out a 100- by 100-foot landing pad.
Sean says he and his friends left (between 7 and 7:30 a.m.) after the helicopter lifted off and took the patient to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
Noting he didn't know the man, Sean says he was told he was from the area.
Regarding why they decided to take the pipeline to Lone Butte, Sean says he doesn't know if it was fate or what.
"But, they said it was unlikely he would have lasted two more hours out there, so we're just glad we were there."