A group of friends say they plan to be more prepared the next time they go mud bogging after getting stuck and spending a long night stranded on a flooded rural road in New Brunswick.
Melanie Bourque and three of her friends took a truck on an off-roading adventure near Monteagle on Sunday. But what was supposed to be a few hours of fun ended in a 12-hour wait for help.
Their truck became stuck in deep mud on a trail about a half hour west of Moncton. The group spent the night without food or insulin for Bourque’s friend, Marcel Arsenault.
“Where he has diabetes, he is starting to panic at this time because he is not sure how long we are going to be stuck and how long he can go without,” says Bourque.
They called 911 and Riverview RCMP began a search-and-rescue effort, but rough terrain and poor visibility made it difficult for emergency responders to reach the group.
“We couldn’t get out of the truck, so to use the bathroom was nearly impossible,” says Bourque.
A tow truck eventually reached the group around 3 a.m. Monday, but it too became stuck in the mud.
A backhoe truck finally freed the truck around 5 a.m.
But Bourque says there was a misunderstanding as to how the backhoe operator would be paid.
“What we didn’t think is that we would have to pay it immediately, as soon as we hit the paved road,” she says.
But tow truck operator Doug Short says the payment was agreed to in advance.
“To myself, there was no payment, the backhoe, well, at $100 an hour I think they got a real good deal because it was four hours of the backhoe’s time,” says Short.
Arsenault says he was surprised that Ambulance New Brunswick was not able to reach him.
“They weren’t very prepared at all,” he says. “The only way we got out was from a towing company after $400.”
Ambulance New Brunswick released a statement about the incident on Wednesday.
“Had the situation evolved into a medical emergency, all responders would have done everything possible to ensure the patient’s care and safety. Paramedics assessed an adult male when the vehicle was dislodged Monday morning. He refused treatment and transport to hospital by ambulance.”
RCMP says the incident is a cautionary tale for many who use the trails.
“Emergency signals, maps, chargers for your cellphone, water, and any medication that you need,” says RCMP Const. Jullie Rogers-Marsh.
Bourque says she and her friends go mud bogging almost every weekend and they plan to continue, but will be a little more prepared next time.
With files from CTV Atlantic's David Bell