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- 39-Year-Old Man Missing for 9 Days Found Alive in the Wilderness After Surviving on 'Unclean Pond Water'</p>
<p>Latoya GayleAugust 12, 2025 at 6:10 AM</p>
<p>Quesnel Search & Rescue</p>
<p>Andrew Barber was rescued after nine days in the wilderness</p>
<p>Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) rescued Andrew Barber from a remote area of Canada on Friday, Aug. 8</p>
<p>Barber, 39, who had been reported missing nine days prior, had spelled out the word "Help" using rocks and mud before he was found, according to the BBC</p>
<p>"He was literally slurping unclean pond water to stay hydrated," Williams Lake RCMP Staff Sgt. Brad McKinnon said, per the Vancouver Sun</p>
<p>A man has been rescued from Canada's wilderness after relying on his survival instincts for over a week.</p>
<p>On Friday, Aug. 8, a police helicopter flying from Prince George spotted Andrew Barber's truck in a remote area north of McLeese Lake, nine days after the 39-year-old had initially been reported missing, local outlets Vancouver Island Free Daily and the Vancouver Sun reported, citing Williams Lake RCMP Staff Sgt. Brad McKinnon.</p>
<p>Barber was found not far from his truck alongside a shelter he had made out of mud and sticks, with the word "Help" spelled out using rocks and mud, according to the BBC and Vancouver Island Free Daily.</p>
<p>"After over a week in the wilderness, our subject has been located alive during today's search from the air," Quesnel Search & Rescue, an area volunteer search and rescue group, wrote on Facebook.</p>
<p>Williams Lake RCMP/Facebook</p>
<p>A Royal Canadian Mounted Police vehicle</p>
<p>"This outcome is the result of countless hours on the ground and in the air, using every resource and piece of technology available to us," they added, alongside a photo of Barber's makeshift shelter.</p>
<p>Barber was taken to Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake after being found in poor health, per the Vancouver Sun and CBC.</p>
<p>"He sustained some injuries and was severely dehydrated, we found him at the right time," McKinnon told Vancouver Island Free Daily. "If we had not located him today, I don't know if we would have had the outcome that we have today."</p>
<p>"He was literally slurping unclean pond water to stay hydrated," he added, per the Vancouver Sun. "The human body can go a long time without food, but water is a different situation."</p>
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<p>PBNJ Productions/Getty</p>
<p>A stock photo of an ambulance</p>
<p>Having eaten whatever he could find in the wilderness, Barber's survival tactics also included stuffing his clothes with grass to protect himself from the elements, Quesnel SAR (Quesnel Search and Rescue) president and manager Bob Zimmerman told CBC.</p>
<p>"He was having a hard time standing. I don't know that he would have made it another 24 hours without us recovering him," Zimmerman said of Barber, per the outlet.</p>
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<p>McKinnon said it remains unclear why Barber was in the "boggy" and remote area of the Cariboo region of British Columbia, the Vancouver Sun reported. However, he confirmed that Barber is "doing quite well," having now been released from the hospital.</p>
<p>"I'll put it this way — had we not found him when we did, I would have had graver concerns than I currently do," he told the outlet. "We had been at this for nine days, and it was essentially like looking for a needle in a haystack."</p>
<p>Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Quesnel Search and Rescue did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Tuesday, Aug. 12.</p>
<p>on People</p>
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