Missing since May 13, Nunavut man survives blizzard on land

Colin Kabloona survived for six days out on the land near the Nunavut community of Whale Cove. (FILE PHOTO)

Lost for six days on the land as the Kivalliq region’s biggest blizzard of May hit, Whale Cove resident Colin Kabloona managed to pull through, thanks to his survival skills and the ceaseless efforts of volunteer searchers in the area.

On May 21 Whale Cove mayor Stanley Adjuk thanked Rankin Inlet search and rescue volunteers for the help they offered in the effort to find Kabloona, 33, who returned to Whale Cove around 4:30 a.m. May 20.

Kabloona was lost about 144 kilometres from Whale Cove while he and his father Percy were travelling by snowmobile from Baker Lake, according to searchers with the Whale Cove search and rescue committee.

The two men were just past the halfway point of their 288-km journey on May 13 when Colin, following his father, mistakenly broke off the trail they were following. Percy Kabloona did not notice his son had taken a wrong turn until he had reached a cabin about seven miles after their paths had diverged.

“The son got separated from the father and the blizzard started that day,” said Manu Nattar of the search and rescue committee. “They couldn’t see each other because of the bad weather.”

Percy Kabloona called the community via satellite phone from the cabin on May 13, between 5 and 6:30 p.m., Nattar said.

“They tried to beat the blizzard,” said Michael Angutituar, chair of the search committee.

About 21 searchers set out to find Colin Kabloona, including six men from Rankin Inlet, according to Angutituar.

Kabloona was found on Sunday afternoon, May 19, and reported to be in good health.

Searchers reported he was “just tired, hungry and thirsty” when found, said Angutituar.

“He knew how to look after himself,” Nattar said from Whale Cove. “He was strong and healthy, even though he hadn’t eaten for six days and six nights.”

Kabloona even drove himself back on his snowmobile during the five-hour-long trip home to Whale Cove.

This past month, when Kabloona went missing, two other searches were also underway in the Kivalliq — for a missing driller worker, Michel Pilon, found May 16, and for a Baker Lake elder, Alvin Kannak, who has been missing since May 7.