Mother Credits SPOT with Rescuing Sons Adrift in Caribbean

“My cottage is very remote and there is no cell phone coverage at all, I use my SPOT device to check in with my wife and give myself piece of mind. Since my cabin can only be accessed by snowmobile or skidoo, I always carry my SPOT with me.”
 

The temperature in a remote part of northern Ontario was below freezing on May 22, 2019. That was the day that Randy Cota, a trained guide and trapper, headed out in a boat for an excursion on the Moose River along with three other men.

“The engine quit, and I ended up in a tree. By the grace of God, I didn’t fall out of it.” That is what 79-year-old John Gregory says about April 23, 2019, the day his plane crashed into a tree in a remote part of Idaho. Mr. Gregory was flying out of his ranch near Challis when something went wrong.
 

The day started as a skiing expedition through the mountains of Montana and ended with a helicopter rescue. On March 20, 2019, a group of teens and adults were on the Glacier/Pondera County line when a teenager in the group was hurt. After an unsuccessful attempt to alert rescue crews, Brandon Van Arsdale, an adult travelling with the teens, activated the SPOT X’s S.O.S. button.

Darrel Comeau was on a four day trip to climb a remote mountain in Wilmore Forest. On the second night of their trip, the group was unable to make it to their cabin but was prepared to make an emergency shelter and set up camp for the night.

In late September, three experienced mountain hikers were on a two-night backpacking trip in Kananaskis Country, Alberta in the Canadian Rockies. On the second day of their trip, a heavy snowstorm hit and made it difficult to find the trail out. The trio was forced to retreat to the previous campground they had stayed at the night before. 

Shannon Cunningham has been an avid backpacker for 9 years. For two of those years, she has carried SPOT Gen3 to use in case of emergency and this past summer was the first time she had to use the S.O.S. on her SPOT. Shannon was on a 5 day solo hike on the northern most tip of Vancouver Island in Canada on the North Coast Trail. On the first day of her hike, she slipped at camp and fell dislocating and breaking her shoulder in four different places.
 

Tom Roberts is an avid hunter in the backcountry of Canada and has been hunting big game for many years. In August 2017, Tom and his hunting partner set off to their favourite spot in the mountains to do some sheep hunting. After his partner shot a ram, Tom took on the job of skinning his hunting partner’s prize. His knife was caught up in the hide so he torqued with his knife. As he did this, the knife came though the hide and he stabbed himself near his knee right to the bone.

John Walker aka Swagman is no stranger to overcoming challenging situations. As a U.S. Navy Veteran and avid hiker, Swagman loves being outside and takes on nature one hiking trail at a time with plans to conquer the Appalachian Trail in 2018. With safety in mind, Swagman purchased his first SPOT device in 2008 after his sister persuaded him to do so—she didn’t want him to be mauled by a bear or rabid racoon. Little did he know that his SPOT device would be put to use not only once, but a total of three times over the past ten years.

Allison Stegner is a paleontologist, and currently is an intern for the Bureau of Land Management surveying the Bears Ears National Monument for fossils. As a paleontologist and ecologist, Allison works in remote parts of Utah and has relied on SPOT since 2013. Recently, Allison was surveying an area littered with dangerous slopes and sandstone blocks.

Jim Adkins, a pilot and avid hunter, purchased his SPOT Gen3 for hunting season so that his family could track him. Two weeks later, Jim had to use his SPOT for the one thing he hoped he would never have to. Jim was elk hunting with his son in Eastern Oregon when his son suffered an accidental gunshot wound. 

Cam Villeneuve is a recreational pilot from the Thompson Valley Sport Aircraft Club in Kamloops, BC who loves to fly year-round. He has even installed skis on his small aircraft so that he can "land everywhere, on land, on hill sides and on lakes."

In the mid-afternoon of February 1st, 2016, Villeneuve was returning to Blair Fields Airport, wrapping up a 45-minute flight. It was a beautiful sunny day and he was having fun landing and taking off from frozen lakes on the south side of Kamloops. On his approach to the landing strip, at a distance of about 3 miles, the aircraft "became very unstable and hard to control" says Villeneuve. "All of a sudden I was looking straight down at the ground from about 400 feet."