Saskatchewan Castaway Fells Power Poles

In 2010, a man became stranded for several days in rough weather in the remote bush near Wollaston Lake in northern Saskatchewan, with no food and no way to call for help. To survive, he sheltered under his boat and came up with a desperate plan, using an axe to cut down four wooden power poles that carried the only electricity line to the isolated community of about 1,200 people.

The resulting outage forced SaskPower to send a helicopter crew to inspect the line, and they found him under his boat, cold and very distressed but alive. The crew escorted him out of the wilderness to safety, and authorities later restored power and replaced the ruined poles.

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