IQALUIT - Two women from Iqaluit were "lucky" to be found alive after spending 48 hours lost on the land, said both the hunter who found them and the RCMP.

Alyssa Flaherty-Spence, 22, left, and Qiatsuq Lavinea Flaherty, 20, were found alive by a hunter on May 3 after spending 48 hours lost on the land near Iqaluit. - contributed photo

David Sudlovenick located the pair at around 6 p.m. on May 3 about 100 kilometres northwest of the territorial capital, past Sylvia Grinnell Lake.

"It was just awesome. I was just so happy to see them and so were they," he said. "They were crying. They were so thankful and they gave me a big hug."

Alyssa Flaherty-Spence, 22, and her cousin, Qiatsuq Lavinea Flaherty, 20, went fishing on the Sylvia Grinnell River on May 1 with two family members. The pair left their family members to relieve themselves and got lost coming back.

About 40 to 50 volunteers participated daily in the air and ground search operation, according to RCMP Sgt. Jimmy Akavak. He said the two women were found visibly wet and cold, and survived Monday's windstorm in a snow cave they made.

"From what we know now, instead of turning and chasing the group towards Iqaluit ... they turned north on the caribou trail to go for hundreds of miles, not realizing it was the opposite way," he said.

He added that though searchers grew more worried as time passed, they maintained hope. They also knew the women had a knapsack, a thermos and some snacks.

They are "a couple of lucky ladies," he said.

Flaherty-Spence's mother, Martha Flaherty, said her daughter returned with green toes, something that would heal, and low iron, while Qiatsuq was fine.

"You will not believe what it's like (to be) missing your child," she said. "It's incredibly painful. I lost many people before but this was incredibly painful. I couldn't eat for three days, sleep for three days, even if I took Aspirins or anythings. It's incredible."

She said Qiatsuq kept pushing Flaherty-Spence to go forward, to keep walking, something that probably saved their lives, Flaherty added.

"I think they pushed hard," she said. "We had a lot of people praying for us from all over."

Sudlovenick said that on May 3, he left Iqaluit at 10 a.m., telling the search-and-rescue team he would hunt caribou but keep an eye out for the missing women. He was out as far as he was planning to go about eight hours later, at an abandoned cabin where he had stopped to eat, when he heard a scream. He spotted something on the horizon, and thought at first it was caribou.

Sudlovenick said he then looked through his binoculars and spotted the two women.

He headed out by snowmobile to pick them up and bring them back to the cabin, where he served them coffee, hot chocolate and food. He then called his wife, asking her to call the women's family and the search-and-rescue team. A helicopter picked up the pair 30 to 45 minutes later, said Sudlovenick.

"They were really lucky. We were really lucky too," he said. "The weather wasn't too bad. It was not too cold but it was wet."

And wet clothing wouldn't keep them warm.

"That was the main thing that worried me," he said.

Flaherty said she had not had the chance to speak with Sudlovenick, her second cousin, yet since the women were found.

"I don't even know how to say 'thank you' to him because it's too much," she said. "I don't even know how to say 'thank you' to him on the radio. That's too little for me. I want to say 'thank you' to him in person."

She said she also wants to thank the searchers and the community.

"I would very much like to thank all the people who were helping us, all the people who were praying for us, not just in Iqaluit, everywhere. The search-and-rescue, helicopter, RCMP, all the Inuit, all the community. They have a big, big heart."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.