March• 2019 | 49READER’S DIGESTmatch for the thick and furious rain.
The helicopters moved on.
By 6pm, almost a full day after
Poitraswasfirstreportedmissing
byherhusband,50defeatedsearch-
ersstreamedbackintothecarpark.
They’d scoured 15 square kilometres
formorethan12hoursinunrelenting
rain and biting wind. The helicopters,
which had been sweeping the air for
hours,hadturnedupnothing.And
nowastormwascomingin.
The rescuers told Marcel they
were packing it in for the night, sohe reluctantly left the site. When he
got home, the rain was beating down
on the roof so hard it sounded like a
waterfall. He’d been awake since the
previous evening, and, after spiralling
through a series of panicked thoughts
about what his life would be like with-
out his wife, he finally fell into a rest-
less sleep.
Back on the mountain, Poitras sat
in the forest, fearful as night fell that
the helicopters wouldn’t return the
next day. The darkness felt oppres-
(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) COURTESY OF ANNETTE POITRAS; THE CANADIAN PRESS/DARRYL DYCK; COURTESY OF COQUITLAM SEARCH AND RESCUE sive as she lay down, soaked, in a
Clockwise from
top: Annette
Poitras with
some of her
regulars,
including Roxy
and Chloe (top
row centre);
being carried to
the ambulance
fromthe
helicopter; and
with members
of the search
and rescue
team