Death in the Wilderness Two men on a hunting trip in the remote Tweedsmuir Park area of west-central British Columbia died when their plane crashed. Richard Poet, Percy Sims, and Jim Holt were successful hunters, shooting two caribou and then flying to their remote campsite at Fenton Lake. Tragedy came suddenly. Percy Sims said: After supper we took off for the outside. The plane lifted and we gained speed. Then Dick (Richard Poet, the pilot) swung the plane to the left. Suddenly it nosed down and crashed into the water. The cabin filled immediately. When I reached the surface, I saw Dick swimming toward a broken float. I swam for it too. But there was no sign of Jim. He, no doubt, was hit hard and went down with the plane. Dick had head and body injuries. I had a broken upper jaw and one side of my nose was split, also my lower lip and forehead. The lake was still open, but cold temperatures were prevalent and the two men, soaked to the skin, needed heat. When they reached the shore, they tried to light a fire and dry out, but in their shocked condition and because of their injuries they failed to start a fire. Then they decided to walk to a nearby cabin to keep warm but the going was rough. Dick fell to the ground and called for me to help him, Percy Sims said. I went back and picked him up and we went on together. I was beat from loss of blood but I knew, because we were in a wet, cold condition, we had to keep going. Then Dick finally gave up. I tried to persuade him to press on, but he just sat down. He could go no farther. I picked him up, Percy Sims said, and then held him up as we struggled on again, but we could not go far. Dick collapsed. I dont know how long I held him in my arms. I prayed for him as he died. After I reached the cabin, I knew that Dick could not have made it. rescuers said the two men struggled some distance along the lakeshore from the scene of the accident to the place where Dick Poet died. When Percy Sims eventually reached the cabin and rested, believing he would never see the outside world again, he sat down and wrote out the details of the tragedy in a letter to Bob Stewart, part owner with Dick Poet of Nimpo Lake Lodge and Wilderness Airlines. The letter was found in the cabin by a forest ranger. Percy Sims wrote: As I am writing this I am in great pain. Jim went down with the plane. Dick died in the wilderness as we struggled toward this cabin.... Can you imagine the pain, the aloneness, and the hopelessly lost feeling of the injured man alone in the cabin as he wrote? Then you will know, in a small measure at least, the plight of a soul that goes into eternity without God. The pain, the aloneness, and the hopelessness will be very real. To be shut apart from the Lord Jesus Christ and loved ones will be the ultimate in soul agony. But you need not experience this. The Lord Jesus Christ does not will you destruction. He died to give you eternal life. What happened to Percy Sims? Later he moved to open ground and was spotted and then rescued by another Wilderness Airlines plane. He was taken to Bella Coola hospital, about 300 miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia. there he recovered from his injuries. Life is uncertain. Death is sure. Two men died in a the Canadian wilderness. But you need not die in a wilderness of sin. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. He died and rose again for you. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10). Accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Do it NOW!Pastor Jeff Hallmark SPRUCELAND BAPTIST CHURCH ~~~Presenting the Prince of Peace to Prince George~~~