GEORGE NEWS - When there is a call for help, George's volunteers and rescue services are always willing to answer - at home or away.
When a man from Fisherhaven in Hermanus, Ian Alton (75), went missing on Saturday 30 November in the outskirts of Montagu and his family reached out for help, members of the George Community Police Forum (CPF), Metro Rescue, AfriForum and Outeniqualand Plaaswag, Montagu and Ladismith police, the Ladismith fire brigade, members of National Crime Assist (NCA) in Hermanus, and community members all jumped in to help.
While some teams were working hard on the ground, others were assisting remotely, and in the end, Alton was found alive.
Alton had to work on a farm between Ladismith and Montagu but got lost in the mountains of the Little Karoo. He found himself stranded without food, water, or medication when his Ford Bantam bakkie got stuck in a sandy ditch in what felt to him like the middle of nowhere.
After attempts to dig it out failed, he was forced to leave the vehicle and search for help. However, he was far from civilisation and had no cellphone coverage where he was.
When he didn't come home on Saturday and his family couldn't reach him, they reported him missing to the Montagu police.
"On Sunday we were pushing them to start the search. That's when my husband contacted National Crime Assist (NCA)," says Alton's daughter, Charmaine Fasen.
According to George CPF's Timothy Luff, they saw a request for assistance on a WhatsApp group on Monday and mobilised emergency services and volunteers from George to assist.
It was, however, a sniffer dog from Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, a reserve in the Montagu area, that led the rescue team to Alton on Monday 2 December. It is believed that because of disorientation due to severe dehydration, Alton walked in circles. He was found about 700m away from his bakkie.
Alton was found in a ravine in a very remote area. He was in critical condition - severely sunburnt, dehydrated and confused, but alive.
He was stabilised and airlifted to George Hospital. He has since been discharged and is now recovering at home in Hermanus.
The dog who found Alton and members of Sanbona's K9 unit with emergency services at Alton's side.
National Crime Assist
According to Dennis Ras of NCA, one of their members, Alton's son-in-law Wessel Fasen, who is currently abroad, contacted them on Sunday 1 December asking for help to look for his father-in-law.
This was when their Critical Cases team registered a project and set the wheels in motion. They contacted the police, all the farmers in the area, and Ladismith's fire brigade, who led the search for the rest of the operation. "The local community worked through all roads between the Ouberg Pass and Anysberg," says Ras.
Besides assisting with their K9 unit, Sanbona also assisted with a thermal drone. A commercial drone was also used during the search.
"In the meantime, we checked all cameras in the area and Navic informed us that the vehicle was picked up on Friday at 09:19 on an LPR camera near Anysberg and immediately turned back. This point was near the farm," says Ras.
As the information was gathered, the search was narrowed down to the Anysberg area where Alton's vehicle was found in the field on Monday at around 14:00.
About two hours later he was tracked down by one of Sanbona's sniffer dogs and K9 unit.
Part of the rescue team attending to Alton.
Alton's bakkie got stuck in a sandy ditch.
A grateful family
"My dad said he would be home after lunch on Saturday," says Fasen. "When he wasn't, we started getting concerned. After waiting a while, when we couldn't get hold of him, my friend and I drove to go look for him on Saturday night. Unfortunately not knowing the area we had to return home.
"I want special thanks sent to Dennis Ras of NCA, Timothy of George CPF, Franklin of Sanbona, Greg the paramedic who assisted my dad on the ground, and especially the doggy who found my dad.
"A heartfelt thanks to absolutely everyone who was part of this rescue mission and those who are still assisting us in retrieving the bakkie."
Alton says his bakkie got stuck at about noon on Saturday. "After that, it was just a comedy of errors," he says. "The worst part was sitting up all night trying to keep myself warm. At some stage I was hypothermic."
By Sunday he could feel his body weakening and on Monday he found a tree under which he lay down to get out of the sun.
"I got disorientated. Your mind plays games with you under those circumstances," he says.
"I want to thank every single person who helped on the ground or behind the scenes. The guys from NCA were magic. They know what they are doing. Tim and Rupert of George CPF were also champions when I arrived at George Hospital. They stayed with me all the time and brought me a Coke. All I wanted was a Coke."
The area in which Alton was lost. ‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’
