Teen survives two nights, fierce storm in wilderness near Maniwaki
14-year-old taking part in youth program 'delirious' when found
Tony Lofaro, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A barefoot 14-year-old boy, wearing only a T-shirt and shorts, survived two nights in the woods near Maniwaki -- through a terrifying electrical storm -- after he attempted to flee a wilderness camp he was attending.
Paul Kinrade, of Thunder Bay, was a participant at Kiatou, a program with a wilderness component designed for "at-risk" teenaged boys.
The Surete du Quebec say the boy, who had been in the program for about three weeks and wanted to go home, "fled voluntarily" Sunday evening at about 7 p.m., as a group of six or seven boys were camping with a counsellor on a peninsula on Lac Pemichangan, southeast of Maniwaki.
Trekking and camping are part of the program at Kiatou. The program, which lasts for a minimum of six weeks, is based near Gracefield, about 25 kilometres from the place where the group was camping.
The group had remained at the campsite on a peninsula after Paul disappeared in the hopes that he would return. When Paul was still missing on Monday morning, police were notified.
The Surete launched a major search-and-rescue effort on Monday afternoon, including a helicopter, two all-terrain vehicles operated by police officers, two police boats and five teams of two officers each on foot, as well as a police dog and handler.
Paul was found around 4:30 p.m. yesterday by an officer in one of the boats, about three kilometres from the peninsula where the teens had been camping, after he heard a faint cry for help from the woods.
Paul was taken to Maniwaki Hospital, where he was treated for minor hypothermia, dehydration and a minor foot injury that had prevented him from walking.
Paul, who is about six-feet tall and weighs about 150 pounds, survived on blueberries and built a shelter for himself during his ordeal, said his father, Stephen Kinrade, last night at the Maniwaki Hospital.
Besides mosquitoes, Paul also had to weather the frightening storm on Monday night, said his father, who added that he was pleased with the search-and-rescue efforts.
"He kept his wits about him. He lived on blueberries, apparently," said Mr. Kinrade.
"He did well. He protected himself from the mosquitoes and the elements. He built himself a small shelter and then he had to abandon it because it was fairly high up," said Mr. Kinrade, who added that his son was "pretty delirious" when he was found.
"He was very happy to be found. He was tired." Mr. Kinrade said he and his wife, Linda, were shocked when they learned that their son was missing. Paul will not return to the program, said his father. "We're bringing him home."
Kiatou program founder Gilles Latremouille said some of the program's participants have disappeared for an hour or two, but this is the first time in the program's 11-year history that a teen had disappeared for such a long period of time.
"We're not a locked facility. We can't lock the kids up," he said. "When a kid doesn't really want to stay here, we don't want to keep him here, either."
Mr. Latremouille said Paul must have been "really, really desperate" to leave. All of the campers had life-jackets, but the area around the campsite was very hilly and wooded and surrounded by water.
Part of Kiatou philosophy is to take the participants to a secluded place where they feel it would be very difficult to try to leave, said Mr. Latremouille. "We always take the kids to a place where they can't imagine running away from," he said.
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