Last week Police Scotland issued a Facebook appeal asking for help in finding Peter Parker, a 65 year old man from Newton Stewart who had been reported missing after he failed to return from walking his dogs one night. The Police immediately identified this report as a high risk missing person but here is the story from Peter’s point of view and his night on the hillside…
Peter Said “I went out for a walk with Poppy and Ruby in the afternoon and walked in a place I know quite well or I thought I did. There had been more tree felling sometime recently and I completely lost my bearings and headed off into the BonDoo thinking that I would get back onto the right track to take me back to where I had parked my car. However it got dark very quick, we were lost on a track that went nowhere. I remembered that there was high ground to my left before getting lost and it had some vegetation on it. So we headed towards it, little did I know I was walking into a large Bog. I let the dogs off their leads and that allowed them to make their own way.
We went about 50 metres towards the high ground and I slipped and fell into a deep water ditch with rocks all around. I was now wet and had hurt the right shoulder, ribs, hip, knee and ankle. I managed to make it to where I wanted to go and there was a little bit of cover with a wood behind us to shelter us from the wind. Poppy and Ruby were wet and I had to dry them.
I took off my first jacket and dried them with the inside and with a bit of heat from rubbing they were ok. We all sat on a flat rock and cuddled each other for quite some time may be 2-3 hours, then we saw some lights in the distance and I started to shout loudly but I think they were walking into the same Bog and we lost sight of them. Much later we heard a tracked vehicle, then saw the big lights on it. I got up and started to shout again and my two little hero’s started barking and because they kept hearing movement they must have barked for about 4 hours non stop. One would stop and come over to me and lick my face then go back on guard and start barking again. We heard the helicopter but it was on the other side of the woods.
Unfortunately the helicopter had to refuel so I later heard. So I told the dogs to get some sleep and they found little scrapes in the rocks with some old heather and curled up into a ball and went to sleep. I must have fallen down 6 or 7 times because at this time I was getting very cold. I had quite a few layers of clothing on, so even though I was wet down one side the other side was drier. I remembered my survival skills from the forces and brought my arms into the first layer from my skin and curled up in a ball and managed to pull my hoody top over my head so I did not get hypothermia. At sun rise we said hello to each other and I needed to cuddle Poppy for a while because she was quite cold. She perked up and we made our way back to the track that we should have been on. We stumbled down the track and I heard a quad bike in a field and a man with a red jacket waving at me (Galloway Mountain Rescue Team)
I shouted but nothing came out of my mouth and the dogs barked and he shouted over to me to stay where I was. I was very glad to see him. He got me to sit on the path and radioed in that he had found me and gave control a 6 figure grid reference. From then on I am not really sure what was happening. I know the dogs were in the back of the Land Rover Ambulance and we ended in a farm yard with loads of people in various coloured uniforms and I went to the A&E department in Stranraer.
I would like to thank everyone who helped in my rescue and to all the followers on Facebook for such kind words both before I was found and after I was found. I am sorry for not speaking to you all before but I slept for 17 hours when I did get home. Poppy and Ruby who are Bedlington terriers had to have a bath because they were absolutely filthy. It is Wednesday evening and I still cannot talk. My vocal chords are rather swollen. Lastly I would like to thank all my neighbours in Elrig village for their support to my wife and staying with her until I was found.
Again thanks too all from your comic book hero PETER PARKER.
Story and Image Credit D&G Police Department
