Heather’s Blog
Saturday, February 17th, our tragedy began.
Sunday February 18th the earnest search for Ryan began.
But it is Monday February 19th that I want to tell you about.
Kamloops search and rescue volunteers spent almost 14 hours Sunday searching for any sign of Ryan. They were amazing on both occasions that they spent looking for my son. I am at peace with their efforts. Their manager that dealt primarily with me is a great man and I felt his heartache when he told me they hadn’t found him.
This post isn’t about him or them.
This is about the quiet and solitude that Scott and I experienced on Monday. Five of our friends ignored our concerns and drove throughout the day to come to our assistance. Many more arrived on Monday and Tuesday.
But it was with these 5 that Scott and I went to original command center to see how the search for Ryan would proceed.
There was no one there.
Does that sound shocking to you? Inconceivable even?
It was with these 5 that Scott went searching for our son. That was the first time that it became clear that finding Ryan would be our priority and no one else’s.
We weren’t trained in Search and Rescue. What parent is? We were woefully ignorant about what equipment to use, how to map out or set up grids, that we would need a center command center and even how to muster volunteers.
We learned by our mistakes each painful, futile day.
We are getting smarter each day. We learned to ask: if this was your child , what resources would you want to have, need to have or pay to have?
We are so far behind the eight ball.
And that needs to change: not just for my child but for anyone that is missing. They deserve to know that everything is being done to find them. Anything less is unacceptable.
What if this was your child? @ Sun Peaks Resort