QAMANITTUAQ/BAKER LAKE
When Shawn Utpatiku and a group of his friends left Baker Lake for a hunting trip on June 28, they were just expecting to get caribou and return home that day.

Runa Kyndal was the pilot of the helicopter that rescued Shawn Utpatiku of Baker Lake after he was stranded on the land during a hunting trip with his friends and had no means of feeding himself because of a medical condition. - photo courtesy of Areva

They made their journey by boat to the Kazan River, but after a day of hunting they realized the wind had shifted, sending the ice across the water and blocking their way back home. At first they weren't worried, because there were a few cabins close by and they were still close to home.

The problem, however, is that Utpatiku has a genetic medical condition which causes issues with his esophagus and leaves him only able to eat through a feeding tube. While his friends were able to catch and eat fish, Utpatiku had no options.

"We didn't have any food to eat, and I'm on a feeding tube so I haven't eaten for a while. I didn't bring out my milk and stuff like that to feed myself," he told Kivalliq News on July 15.

"I haven't actually eaten for about seven months though, but still I had no supplies, so I just drank more water."

This lasted for two days, and when he was really beginning to reflect on the seriousness of his situation, Utpatiku said a helicopter appeared in the sky to rescue them.

"I was about to give up and this chopper just showed up out of nowhere to pick me up. It was very cool," he said.

The helicopter was mobilized by the team at the Areva mine's Kiggavik Project after William Noah, the company's Baker Lake representative, received a call from Utpatiku's grandfather Robert Oolakik.

"(Noah) got a call on the weekend from a gentleman in Baker Lake he knows who'd been trying to get to his grandson that day because he had to spend the previous night (out) due to not being able to get back because of ice shifting," said Barry McCallum, manager of Nunavut affairs with Areva.

"It's somewhat common in Baker Lake when the winds are westerly and the shore is open for the ice to be away from town and the first few miles on the east end of the lake to be open. People use that water and get across the lake, and if the wind shifts, sometimes you get stuck."

Noah got the helicopter mobilized and gave the pilot, Runa Kyndal, the co-ordinates to where the group was.

"We mobilized the helicopter and confirmed to the grandfather that the next morning we'd fly out, but the pilots had to sleep before they were permitted to fly again," McCallum said.

"We got as much info on their location as we could fromq one of the guys. One of our workers is a contractor working for Peter's Expediting. He went with the pilot and found the group."

Utpatiku said once he was in the helicopter it was only a 10-minute flight back to Baker Lake where he was able to get food for himself. His friends were given food and decided to stay on the land a while longer to come back with their boat when the ice moved.

"I was happy to find out my grandfather called, and I was happy I was able to come home and feed myself," he said. "I went about two days without food while we were out there, but I've gone longer without it because of my condition."

This isn't the first time Areva has helped in a rescue. Since the Kiggavik Project started up in Baker Lake, McCallum said there have been at least a half-dozen times the company has been called by residents, search and rescue or the RCMP to assist in a mission.

"When we get these calls we help if it's possible to do so and it's important to contribute to the community," McCallum said. "You really don't know the seriousness of the events where people are stranded. It could be serious or just uncomfortable, so we respond as if it's serious."

Utpatiku said he was very grateful to Areva and his grandfather for rescuing him. The next time he and his friends go out on the land, he said he planned to be more prepared.

"I wasn't prepared because we just went across and it was pretty close and we thought it wouldn't happen," he said. "But next time I will be prepared."

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