Searchers find Cape Breton teen in woods suffering from frostbite, hypothermia

An 18-year-old rescued this weekend after being reported missing just north of Sydney, N.S., is in hospital recovering from frostbite and hypothermia.

In a news release, Cape Breton Regional Police said they received a call from a woman around 7:40 p.m. AT Saturday that her son was missing in the woods in South Bar.

Police and local fire crews were a part of the search team that also employed a drone and eventually a helicopter from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax.

Temperatures at the time were hovering a couple of degrees below the freezing mark, Insp. Ken O'Neill said in an interview with CBC News.

He said the teen was first spotted by the drone in rough terrain in a snow-covered swamp where he had fallen into some water. 

"He was not prepared to be out in these temperatures," O'Neill said.

Three police officers were first to reach the teen using the drone information and found him wet and suffering from frostbite on his feet and hypothermia. O'Neill said he had been there for two to three hours before he was located.

The emergency personnel, including EHS paramedics who arrived after the police officers, also had to wade through water in the swamp to reach the teenager.

Because he had suffered considerable frostbite, his rescuers started a fire in the wooded area while awaiting the arrival of the helicopter from Halifax to airlift him from the rough terrain.

When the helicopter arrived, a pair of medical technicians were lowered to the scene to stabilize the teenager. He was then lifted into the helicopter and flown to Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney.

O'Neill said the teen is expected to make a full recovery.

"It was a serious circumstance that ended up with a real good outcome," he said.