Another hour likely would have meant the difference between life and death for a 70-year-old man found frost-bitten, shivering and dehydrated inside his truck, which was buried under a snowdrift.
“I think the outcome would have been very bad if it would have been another hour or two later,” said EMS Deputy Chief Bruce Krauter, the first paramedic on the scene. “He was very dehydrated. His body temp was way down and he’s elderly. That’s quite the shock for an elderly person.”
John Friesen is in stable condition after spending about 24 hours stranded inside his truck, which became buried under snow during fierce winter weather. An OPP officer and a snowplow driver rescued him after noticing the GMC Sierra’s tail light poking out from under the massive snowdrift on a remote Leamington road.
Friesen left his Leamington home on Robson Road about 4:30 p.m. When he didn’t return home and no one heard a word from him, his family called police.
Essex County OPP Sgt. Shane Diewold and snowplow driver Kevin Derbyshire found him about 24 hours later buried under a snow pile at the end of East Beach Road.
Krauter said Friesen was not dressed to be outside in winter.
“He had no shoes on,” he said. “It was reported early in the morning that he went out for a drive and he was not prepared for the elements. Sweatpants, T-shirt, windbreaker and Crocs.”
When rescuers found Friesen, he wasn’t wearing the Crocs, or even socks.
“The Crocs were not in the vehicle and they were nowhere to be found,” said Krauter. “The assumption would be that he got out, tried to walk and lost them, so he was in bare feet for the whole night.”
When Krauter arrived, an OPP officer was in the truck with Friesen.
“He was awake and talking, a little lethargic, dehydrated, hypothermic,” said Krauter. “There was frost all throughout the vehicle, so it was very cold.”
Friesen, who also didn’t bring gloves, had frostbite on his hands and feet. His body temperature was about 34 C. It should be 38.6.
He was talking. That was a good sign. But he was also disoriented and confused.
“That’s understandable because of the lower blood temperature and the oxygen to the brain,” said Krauter.
Friesen didn’t have anything to eat or drink during the 24 hours he was missing. The extreme cold also accelerated dehydration.
“The body is using up fuel to keep warm,” said Krauter. “When we picked him up there was extreme shivering. That’s a good sign that the body is working trying to create energy to create warmth. If they stop shivering, then that’s almost at the bad point.”
Paramedics put heat packs and thermal blankets on him.
“Just try to get the warmth back in the body,” said Krauter. “Then check everything else. We checked his blood sugar and treated him for low blood pressure. That’s normal for dehydration. Then a step approach. Find a problem fix it, and if we can’t fix it then treat it the best we can.”
Even while still in the ambulance, Friesen seemed to be bouncing back from his near-death experience.
“He’s doing good, he’s in stable condition,” said Krauter. “When we dropped him off at the hospital he was actually talking to us. He was actually being a little bit humourous. It’s a really amazing story that he’s going to have such a good outcome.”
Once the truck was buried, said Krauter, the snow acted as insulation.
“The whole truck was encapsulated in snow,” he said. “The roof had like a foot, two feet of snow, so that’s a big insulating factor. From his body temp, it probably created some heat inside the vehicle that he could survive a little bit better. That really shows when people get stuck or stranded, stay in your vehicle, stay warm.”
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