AUSUITTUQ/GRISE FIORD
Just last month, Manasie Noah was hailed for saving the lives of two young people by killing a sick and desperate polar bear roaming the streets of Grise Fiord.

Grise Fiord Mayor Meeka Kiguktak, her husband Charlie Noah, and grandson Nolan Kiguktak set out from the hamlet to caribou hunt in late March. When they ran out of fuel 160 km from the hamlet, Nolan's father Manasie Noah and Michael Muckpa volunteereed for the rescue mission. - photo courtesy of Manasie Noah

Only weeks later, three more lives were at stake, and this time the people Noah needed to save were his son and in-laws.

Noah's fiancee Susie Kiguktuk got the call from her mother, Mayor Meeka Kiguktuk, on a long-distance radio March 26.

"She told me they were running low on fuel," Susie said. Her father, Charlie Noah, had packed enough gas for a normal trip. But efforts to find a snowmobile left the previous year, combined with the load of pulling a qamutik with six caribou, meant the couple and their grandson, Nolan, didn't have enough fuel to reach the next cache.

They were stuck at Graham Island.

"Luckily they had a tent, a Coleman stove, and camping gear, and a lot of caribou to eat," she said.

But with only one can of naphtha, the group was forced to use gasoline as heating fuel.

"They were running so low that they had to put the snow machine upside down to drip the fuel and put it in the can," she said. "They had to keep their heat very low to conserve fuel in case they were not reached for another couple of days."

A fuel drop by plane was an option, but anyone familiar with Grise Fiord knows how hit-and-miss the weather is to simply getting a scheduled plane into the hamlet.

It didn't take much for Susie to convince Manasie to take up the rescue mission. He recruited her cousin, Mike Muckpa, to help navigate the rugged landscape between Grise Fiord and Graham Island.

"The gas station was closed, so we had to call out for fuel," she said. The RCMP let the men take a police snowmobile so they packed up and left at 12:30 a.m. The trip took 15 hours one-way.

"It was serene and peaceful," Manasie said, "but what took our breath away was the thought of our family endangered from the elements."

Reaching Hour Glass Bay, about one-third of the way there, the men stopped for tea and crackers.

"The original plan was to get some sleep at the cabin," he said, but he told Mike he had to keep going. "I will not be able to sleep knowing that they can freeze to death if we didn't get them fuel. The very thought drove me crazy, and I used those thoughts as a drive and motivation to just get up and keep driving."

Meanwhile, Susie was left at home to worry about her son, parents, cousin and fiance and their race against time.

"All the emotions were flying all over the place for me," she said.

Nine hours later, the men found the trail and eventually the camp.

"It was a sight for tired sleepy sore eyes," Manasie said. "I was enlightened and overcome with hope and faith and drove that much more faster. We almost missed them. We were tracking their trail on land and each time the hills and river beds would bring us up on high ground, we would peer over and try to locate them with our own eyes."

Seeing the tent and sleds, he had to look again to make sure he wasn't seeing just rocks in the distance.

"Then I saw my son and his grandpa running at me with waving arms and jacket," he said. "I was in tears when we located them."

Once the men reached the camp, they worked to heat up the campers.

"It was already very, very cold," Susie was told. "My son's feet were so cold that they were starting to fell numb. My father kept his feet on his belly, on the skin, to keep them warm."

The campers' clothes were wet with condensation, and they didn't have enough heat to dry them. The rescuers got the fire roaring, warming the group up, and prepared a meal before heading back to a cabin for rest after pressing on for almost two straight days without sleep. Manasie credited Muckpa for making the rescue possible.

"I thank (him) very much for all he did and continues to do today, as a friend, family and hunting companion," he said.

Warmed and refuelled, Charlie, Meeka and Nolan set out to find the abandoned snowmobile again before returning home.

"If they did not have a radio, I do not think they would be here," Susie said. Thanking her cousin, she also praised her fiance for protecting her family.

"He's a very determined person," Susie said. "I'm just a lucky person to have him."

Manasie thanked Amon Akeeagok, Marty Kulugultuk, Terry Burns, Mark Akeeagok, Imooshee Nutaraqjuk, Aksajuk Ningiuk, the HTO and RCMP for their help in facilitating the rescue mission.

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