Sailor 1st Class Matt Blades is back at work at CFB Esquimalt after a harrowing experience more than a week ago that led to a massive search and rescue operation in the waters off southern Vancouver Island. “I knew that I would either get found or that it wasn’t my problem anymore,” said Blades. The sailor was conducting operations in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat off Bentinck Island when the day had come to an end. Blades was at the helm of the boat as it made its way back to base when a powerful storm began causing waves of up to two metres in size. “When I came up over one wave another wave hit me on the side that I wasn’t expecting. It caused me to lose my balance and I got thrown out of the boat,” said the sailor. Blades was attached to the boat’s kill switch, taking it into the water with him. The other sailor on board couldn’t get the boat restarted. “I was trying to swim towards the boat, but that boat just took off like a sail,” said Blades. That’s when the junior sailor, who was still aboard the vessel, called for assistance and a rescue mission was launched. Now alone, floating roughly two kilometres off shore in stormy seas, Blades had to focus on how to survive the ordeal until he could be rescued. He saw boats headed toward his location, but the optimism they inspired was short-lived. “I had about 16 boats go past me where I thought I could yell at them,” said Blades. None of those vessels was able to spot the man in the rough seas or hear his cries for help. After more than two and half hours in the frigid waters, the sailor began to hear the sounds of air support that had joined the search. “You just start seeing the lights coming up in the sky,” said Blades. He knew then that it was just a matter of time before he would be found and his optimism once again returned. “As they were creeping closer, I was like, ‘Oh, they’re going to find me soon,’” said Blades. “They didn’t spot me with any of the instruments, it was actually the guy spotted me with his eyeball.” After spending roughly three hours alone in the water, wearing only a personal floatation device and a dry suit, Blades was finally discovered. “As soon as that flare went down I just started sending kisses up to the helicopter, I was just like, ‘Hell yeah, good work boys,’” said the sailor. Blades was then pulled from the water by the crew of a pilot boat and taken to hospital by a waiting ambulance where he was checked over. “I’d say I was anywhere mild to moderate hypothermia,” said Blades. After taking a week off work, the sailor is now back on the job and couldn’t be more grateful to all those that were responsible for saving his life that stormy day off the shores of Albert Head. “My wife, I know she is especially thankful to everybody,” he said. “There has been a couple tears when she has been meeting up with some people, she’s just so overjoyed that I’m back and they put in all of their effort to find me.”
