Burning Alive: Escape from the Wreckage

Tom Wilson is on a routine work trip to visit a construction project at Toba Inlet - a wild, remote fjord on the coast of British Columbia. But when his small, chartered plane meets a violent and horrifying end, Tom will be thrust into hell on earth. After somehow surviving the initial impact, he must find a way to overcome his panic and escape the burning remains of the aircraft. And even then, he’ll soon discover his ordeal has only just begun… A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. Written by Heléna Lewis | Produced by Ed Baranski | Assistant Producer: Luke Lonergan | Exec produced by Joel Duddell | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Matt Peaty | Assembly edit by Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Ralph Tittley. For ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you’d like to put forward for the show, let us know. Drop us an email at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:18John Hopkins?

  It's mid-morning, Sunday, November 16, 2008.

• 0:23John Hopkins?

  A heavy blanket of fog hangs low over south Thormanby Island, a wild, rugged stretch of land off the coast of Vancouver, Canada.

• 0:33John Hopkins?

  Savage winds whip through the closely crowded trees. Cold drizzle falls relentlessly from the desolate gray sky.

• 0:43John Hopkins?

  On the forested slopes of a small, rocky mountain, thick, black smoke rises, its acrid plumes mingling with the fog before dispersing into the dank, frigid air.

• 0:55John Hopkins?

  On the rough terrain below, fierce pockets of fire burn amongst the mangled remains of scorched, splintered trees and twisted metal.

• 1:05John Hopkins?

  The trail of destruction culminates in the crumpled carcass of an eight-seater plane that lies smashed on the rocky ground.

• 1:13John Hopkins?

  It's burning.

• 1:17John Hopkins?

  Amidst the wreckage, unconscious but still strapped in his seat, is a 35-year-old man, Tom Wilson.

• 1:25John Hopkins?

  His eyes snap open, and he is consumed by blinding pain. His body is engulfed by flames.

• 1:35Speaker 02

  I can't describe what it feels like to be on fire, but what I can tell you, it's the closest thing to insanity that I've ever experienced.

• 1:46John Hopkins?

  Drenched in aviation fuel, Tom desperately needs to get away from the inferno that surrounds him. He tries to reach down and unfasten his seatbelt, but he's in such agony that his hands refuse to follow the commands of his own panicking brain. With every passing moment, the fire becomes more ferocious, devouring his clothes and attacking his skin. He claws at the belt like a cornered animal, trying frantically to pull away from the fire, but it's no use. He's trapped.

• 2:16John Hopkins?

  And if he can't get himself out of his seat soon, he'll be burned alive.

• 2:22Speaker 02

  You don't think that you could possibly live another second before your mind shuts off because the pain's too much, or your heart explodes. And the next second, it gets worse, it gets worse. And it takes you on this journey of insanity where there's, there's nothing. The only thing that, that exists in that moment is the pain, is the panic.

• 2:51John Hopkins?

  Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice?

• 2:59John Hopkins?

  Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

• 3:12John Hopkins?

  In this episode, we meet Tom Wilson. In November 2008, the 35-year-old area manager is on a routine work trip to visit a construction project at Toba Inlet, a wild, remote fjord on the coast of British Columbia. But when his small, chartered plane meets a violent and horrifying end, Tom will be thrust into hell on earth. After somehow surviving the initial impact, he must find a way to overcome his panic and escape the burning wreckage of his aircraft. And even then, he'll soon discover his ordeal has only just begun.

• 3:45Speaker 02

  I'm on the side of this mountain. I have no idea where I am. I have no skill. I'm in so much pain. And I'm surrounded by death.

• 3:52John Hopkins?

  I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is Real Survival Stories.

• 4:18John Hopkins?

  It's noon on Saturday, November the 15th, 2008. The sun is shining, and Tom Wilson is driving from his home in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, to the airport at Edmonton.

• 4:32John Hopkins?

  As area manager for Peter Kiwitt's sons, a global construction company, Tom travels frequently. His job involves reporting on the financial performance of various construction projects.

• 4:44John Hopkins?

  This morning, he's flying to Vancouver on the first leg of a trip that will take him to a facility at Toba Inlet, an isolated fjord known for its stunning scenery and distinctive wildlife.

• 4:56Speaker 02

  Kiwitt often does these large, complex mega projects out in the middle of nowhere. And so Toba Inlet is secluded in the mountains north of Vancouver. And so because it's remote, it's very difficult to get to.

• 5:14John Hopkins?

  From Vancouver, the bosses have arranged an amphibious plane to fly Tom and his colleagues to the largely inaccessible fjord. It's a trip he's made before, so he knows what to expect.

• 5:27John Hopkins?

  But as he's driving along, listening to the radio, Tom is suddenly struck by something he can't explain.

• 5:36Speaker 02

  That was one of the strangest feelings, looking back. There was no logical reason, but I had this overwhelming feeling of that I shouldn't fly, that I shouldn't go on this trip, and I had no idea why.

• 5:50John Hopkins?

  Tom is not the kind of man prone to superstitions or premonitions, so although he's unsettled by the strange feeling, he talks himself out of it. After all, what choice does he have? Everything is arranged, the tickets are paid for. If he calls his boss and backs out now, it won't just affect him, but all his colleagues too, plus the crew at the site who are waiting to be relieved.

• 6:15John Hopkins?

  Besides, Tom is climbing the corporate ladder and forging a successful career. He has plans for the future, and it's taken him a long time to get here.

• 6:25Speaker 02

  Things were pretty normal for me as a kid. I was a bit spoiled, though, with being the youngest. I ended up getting in a lot of trouble. Moved out of my house at 15, I was just in trouble with the law. I ended up joining the military just because I was a bit of a disaster trying to figure out how to be an adult. Spent a few years in the military. I just continued to struggle to find my footing, my path.

• 6:49John Hopkins?

  After getting kicked out of the military for poor behaviour, he eventually completed his education, gained a degree in accountancy, and fell into the construction sector. It gave him the building blocks he needed.

• 7:01Speaker 02

  That's where my career took off. I really started to do well in life. I got promoted quickly through Keywit. Keywit was the biggest company in my career. They taught me everything I knew. And so I grew with them.

• 7:14John Hopkins?

  He's not about to jeopardise everything he's achieved for the sake of some inexplicable feeling. He steadies himself and drives on.

• 7:28John Hopkins?

  After arriving safely at Edmonton Airport, Tom checks in, passes through security, and boards the plane to Vancouver.

• 7:36John Hopkins?

  The flight passes without a hitch. It helps assuage his uneasiness.

• 7:43Speaker 02

  I kind of brushed it off, and I'm like, huh. Well, that was a dumb feeling, right? Like, that didn't make any sense at all. There was no issues. We're fine.

• 7:52John Hopkins?

  That evening, Tom and one of his colleagues, 29-year-old Kyle Adams, go out for dinner in Vancouver and discuss the upcoming trip. In the past year, the two men have been working closely together. They've developed a friendship, and Tom has taken Kyle under his wing.

• 8:09Speaker 02

  Because I was an area manager, I had the ability to promote. And so I waited at Kyle's office two months earlier and told them that I was promoting him and training him and teaching him, and that we were going to Toba Inlet. So this is the trip. And so I brought Kyle with me because I was going to elevate his career. Kyle was so excited because he'd never been to Toba Inlet. He'd never been to a mega project. He'd never flown on a float plane. There were so many firsts for Kyle.

• 8:39John Hopkins?

  The two men get an early night. Their flight is booked for 10 a.m. the next day, and they want to be fresh.

• 8:48John Hopkins?

  But when morning arrives, it quickly becomes clear there's a problem.

• 8:53John Hopkins?

  As they greet each other in the hotel lobby around 8 a.m., the scene outside is bleak and forbidding.

• 8:59Speaker 02

  The cloud ceiling is low, the visibility is almost zero, it's foggy, it's raining. And I look at Kyle, and I'm like, well, there's no way we're flying today.

• 9:09John Hopkins?

  Although it's not looking promising, they decide to head to the airport anyway and to check out the situation. They catch a cab. By the time they get there, the conditions haven't improved. And inside the airport, it's chaos.

• 9:22Speaker 02

  Every single flight from the Vancouver International Airport that morning was either canceled or delayed because of the weather. No one was taking off, they shut down the runways.

• 9:34John Hopkins?

  It seems certain now that the trip will be postponed. Tom and Kyle weave their way through the crowds of stressed and stranded passengers in the main body of the airport. When they reach the smaller float plane terminal, sure enough, they're told their flight is delayed due to the weather. While they wait for further information, Tom and Kyle decide to get some breakfast. They encounter another of their coworkers, A.J., and invite him to join them.

• 10:01John Hopkins?

  When they're finished, they catch sight of their other four colleagues and go to greet them.

• 10:06John Hopkins?

  Soon afterwards, to their surprise, the seven men are told they can, in fact, board their plane after all.

• 10:13Speaker 02

  We're all looking at each other because this doesn't make any sense. We were pretty sure we were flying, and now they're instructing us to go get on the airplane. And it was really awkward. None of us felt comfortable. We were all confused by the messaging, it didn't align with what we were seeing around us. But none of us really knew what to do. They're instructing us to board the aircraft. So, we did.

• 10:47John Hopkins?

  Despite the tense atmosphere, the seven colleagues keep sturm and head toward their plane. After all, the airport officials have cleared them for takeoff, so everything must be okay, surely.

• 11:01John Hopkins?

  They step out onto the tarmac and make their way to the small, eight-seater Grumman Goose aircraft. The float plane's wings are set above the cabin, with powerful engines that protrude either side of the cockpit. With its snub nose and bulky floats, it's an odd-looking beast, but it's perfect for the task at hand.

• 11:22John Hopkins?

  Still, the weather conditions aren't boosting anyone's confidence.

• 11:27Speaker 02

  It doesn't make sense to me, because I can't see a hundred yards down the runway, but we're gonna fly into the mountains to try and land in this little tiny inlet, and it just, it's not making sense to me.

• 11:41John Hopkins?

  Their pilot is waiting to greet them and load their luggage onboard. He's an experienced pilot, and Tom's flown with him before.

• 11:51John Hopkins?

  After handing over their bags, both AJ and Tom approach the plane's door at the same moment. Each immediately steps back and insists the other boards first. They briefly banter back and forth, but Tom wins the plateness battle, and AJ enters the plane ahead of him.

• 12:09John Hopkins?

  On flights like these, passengers are allowed to sit in the unoccupied co-pilot seat. It's a coveted position, offering significantly more legroom, as well as fantastic views when the weather is clear. AJ heads straight towards it.

• 12:26John Hopkins?

  Having missed out on the best spot, Tom takes a seat two rows behind the pilot, directly under the left wing.

• 12:34John Hopkins?

  The vibe onboard feels strained.

• 12:38John Hopkins?

  The pilot is the last to board. He gets into position and pauses.

• 12:45Speaker 02

  He looks back at us in the passenger cabin, and he says, "Hey, guys, we're gonna have to do some low-level flying because of the weather conditions outside. If anyone's got a problem with that, let me know now, and I'll let you off."

• 13:01Speaker 02

  And that silence was echoing. Because I'm telling you, we understood that we were in danger.

• 13:10John Hopkins?

  But in a strange moment, despite the obvious mood of anxiety, nobody objects.

• 13:16Speaker 02

  The pilot kind of let that awkward silence percolate for about five seconds, maybe less. And then he looks back a second time. And he says, hey, guys, it's my job to make sure that this flight doesn't get too exciting. If it does get too exciting, we'll come back, we'll turn around, and we'll have coffee. And so everyone kind of gave the silent shrug of approval. Still, there was no affirmation, but no one said anything. No one prevents me.

• 13:45Speaker 02

  That one second. Why? What is it that prevents us from speaking up? I've spent more time on thinking about and soul-searching my behaviors in that one second. Than I have anything else in my life.

• 14:06John Hopkins?

  When nobody speaks up, the pilot prepares for takeoff. The course is set.

• 14:14John Hopkins?

  The passengers fasten their seatbelts and put in mandatory earplugs to muffle the deafening noise of the engines. The plane rolls down the runway towards the water.

• 14:24John Hopkins?

  They hit the sea and pick up speed, the power of the propellers reverberating through the small cabin. The aircraft lurches as it attempts to take flight, bouncing off the waves while water smashes against its body.

• 14:38John Hopkins?

  As they become airborne, Tom tries to settle in for the rest of the flight. And in an aircraft like this, that's no easy task.

• 14:48John Hopkins?

  He twists his six-foot frame into a modified fetal position, jamming his knees into the seat in front. He pulls his hoodie up and leans his head against the window, the fabric cushioning his face on the glass. He closes his eyes.

• 15:06Speaker 02

  I was just trying to be in a face of calm. You know, I was trying to breathe, get through the flight.

• 15:12John Hopkins?

  Tom drifts in and out of sleep as the plane begins its journey through the fog. Occasionally, he opens his eyes and sees the ocean, only a few hundred feet below his window. It's unnerving to be flying so low. But it's not exactly unexpected.

• 15:31John Hopkins?

  As their journey progresses without incident, everything seems calm. The other passengers are quiet. All Tom can hear is the muffled sound of the aircraft.

• 15:42John Hopkins?

  But twenty-two minutes into the flight, everything changes.

• 15:47Speaker 02

  Without any warning, like no warning at all, there was this massive grinding sound. You'd think it would be the impact of a plane crash that can get someone's attention, but it wasn't. It was this noise. And so, I hear this massive sound and it's like this metal just being sheared.

• 16:09John Hopkins?

  Instantly, Tom's eyes snap open. And with his head still resting against the window, he sees something terrifying.

• 16:17Speaker 02

  As soon as my eyes shoot open, I see trees. But the trees are off in the distance. The trees are literally outside of the glass of my window. It's the trees ripping the aircraft apart.

• 16:35John Hopkins?

  There's no time to process what he's seeing. The plane shakes and screeches, screams fill the cabin. Almost instantly, Tom is thrown so hard against the seat in front of him that he loses consciousness. Everything goes dark.

• 16:52Speaker 02

  It was over in the briefest of seconds with no one saying anything. It happened so fast.

• 17:07John Hopkins?

  It's just after ten thirty a.m. on Sunday, November the sixteenth, two thousand and eight.

• 17:13John Hopkins?

  On a rocky mountain slope, the wreckage of a small plane smoulders, smoke spilling out into the forested wilderness. The aircraft has been pulverized. It's now a flaming ruin of mangled metal, following a devastating collision with the mountainside. It seems impossible that anyone on board could have survived the high-speed impact. And yet, incredibly, one passenger is still breathing.

• 17:42John Hopkins?

  Tom Wilson's eyes suddenly snap open, and agony instantly racks his body.

• 17:48John Hopkins?

  Flames from the burning wreckage of the plane engulf him, searing his flesh.

• 17:53Speaker 02

  It's not this groggy slumber back into reality or consciousness. It's, I'm on fire. I'm covered head to toe in plane fuel, and I'm burning alive. And I wake up, and I'm screaming. I can't describe what it feels like to be on fire. But what I can tell you, it's the closest thing to insanity that I've ever experienced.

• 18:22John Hopkins?

  Somehow, Tom's seat remains intact, bolted to the wreckage. It's about the only thing left of the little eight-passenger aircraft. He lurches, desperate to get away from the flames, only to find that he is still strapped in place by his seatbelt.

• 18:38John Hopkins?

  Screaming and flailing, he scrabbles to undo the clip and escape.

• 18:43Speaker 02

  I had my wits enough to know that I couldn't get up because of my seatbelt. It's this old aircraft with these big metal clips are the easiest thing in the world. Alls you have to do is reach down, pull on the metal clip, and release the seatbelt. But I was in so much pain, I was in such a panic, such an override. My body was literally just pulling away from the fires, as hard as it could to get away like any animal would. And I was trying to get my seatbelt off, but my hands wouldn't follow the directions of my mind.

• 19:17John Hopkins?

  Tom has just minutes, if not seconds, to escape the burning wreckage before it's too late.

• 19:23John Hopkins?

  Somehow, he finds the mental fortitude he needs to choke down the panic.

• 19:30Speaker 02

  I consciously sat up in my chair. I put my hands in the air and I let myself burn. And I let myself burn for just the briefest of seconds, just to try and get my stamina, my control, my sanity back enough to get my hands to listen to me. And so I reach into the fire and I get this clip undone.

• 19:52John Hopkins?

  Tom fumbles and fights until, click, the belt comes loose.

• 20:00John Hopkins?

  Instantly, he stands. He's acting on pure instinct as adrenaline pumps through his veins and he sprints blindly towards the trees. Nothing bars his way. The violence of the crash has shattered the plane upon impact, providing him with a clear escape route away from the wreckage.

• 20:19John Hopkins?

  It's a small mercy in the circumstances.

• 20:21Speaker 02

  I could barely navigate undoing a seatbelt. If there was any other obstacles in my way, there's no way I had the sanity or the control to navigate through them and I would have died for sure.

• 20:33John Hopkins?

  But running from the wreckage doesn't mean he's escaped the danger or the pain. He has been drenched by gallons of fuel, which is feeding the fire that covers his body. Plus, he still has his hoodie pulled over his head. As he runs, the movement causes the flames to shoot inwards, burning his face.

• 20:56John Hopkins?

  Tom yanks off his hoodie, followed by his shirt. He slaps at the fire that's still devouring his skin and manages to put out the flames that are climbing up his jeans.

• 21:07John Hopkins?

  It's only after he's extinguished everything that he can that the full extent of his appalling injuries comes to light.

• 21:18Speaker 02

  I am no longer on fire, but I have no skin on my face, I have no skin on my hands. My back is burnt, my stomach's burnt. I've got some major gashes, I'm bleeding everywhere. I could smell my own burnt flesh. And I stood there and I screamed.

• 21:40Speaker 02

  I screamed for longer and harder than I ever thought imaginable because there was no sanity. It was literally all just about the pain.

• 21:54John Hopkins?

  He stands, wearing nothing but his jeans and work boots, in the frigid November air.

• 22:01John Hopkins?

  Robbed of any reason or rationality, he continues to yell.

• 22:10John Hopkins?

  He is about thirty meters away from the crash site and facing the forest, and there is a loud explosion behind him.

• 22:20John Hopkins?

  Although he feels the heat and shockwaves against his naked back, it barely registers.

• 22:28Speaker 02

  The only thing that brought the sanity back was exhaustion from screaming. I started to think, "What the hell just happened? What about all my friends? What about my crew?"

• 22:39Speaker 02

  And so I staggered back to the wreckage.

• 22:43John Hopkins?

  Eyes clouded, body still gripped by pain, Tom manages to stumble his way back to the smoldering remains of the aircraft.

• 22:52John Hopkins?

  Back to a sight of pure tragedy.

• 22:56Speaker 02

  Over the course of years, I've become very good at sharing. The one thing that even to this day I've never shared with my psychiatrist, I've never shared with anyone, is what I found that day. When I went back to the plane crash. And I found my crew. And everyone was dead. And... It was just devastating. There was nothing left. It was just, it was so violent.

• 23:25John Hopkins?

  Besides the ruins of the plane, he sobs uncontrollably, until his body is racked by exhaustion once more.

• 23:34Speaker 02

  This is where my military experience kicked in. And I started to try and figure out, "Okay, we're in a plane crash. Where am I?" I have no idea where I am.

• 23:52John Hopkins?

  The plane has crashed into the side of a small mountain on south Thormandy Island. Though only a short distance from the Canadian mainland, it feels far more remote and is virtually uninhabited.

• 24:05John Hopkins?

  But Tom doesn't know all this yet.

• 24:09John Hopkins?

  He takes a steadying breath and assesses the situation.

• 24:15John Hopkins?

  The thick fog surrounding him doesn't offer many clues as to his location, but he can at least make out the densely forested slopes of the mountain.

• 24:24John Hopkins?

  He has two options: wait at the crash site for someone to come and find him, or climb down the mountain himself and look for help.

• 24:33John Hopkins?

  Neither is appealing. Tom's burns and cuts are serious enough on their own, but there's no telling yet if he suffered any internal injuries in the crash, or how severe they might be.

• 24:44John Hopkins?

  Whatever the case, he needs medical attention quickly, and it's impossible to know how long it will take for help to come. Added to this is the weather. With severely burnt hands, he can't build a shelter, and his jeans and boots will do little to protect him from the cold.

• 25:02John Hopkins?

  But walking away from the crash site isn't attractive either. In his current condition, every movement is painful, and battling his way through dense trees when his body is covered in burns promises fresh agony.

• 25:16John Hopkins?

  Besides, he has no clue where he is or how long it will take before he stumbles on civilization.

• 25:23John Hopkins?

  In the end, one factor sways his decision.

• 25:27Speaker 02

  I decided to leave the wreckage. I had to try and leave the wreckage to go find help because I knew, with my military experience, that search or rescue wasn't coming. I knew that they would not risk the lives of their personnel to find the conditions that caused us to crash to come find us.

• 25:46John Hopkins?

  Tom scans the smoke-filled clearing created by the crash, searching for the easiest route down the mountain.

• 25:54John Hopkins?

  The site is ringed by near impenetrable forest. But the plane has carved a rough avenue through the trees on the eastern side.

• 26:04John Hopkins?

  It looks like the path of least resistance. But that doesn't mean it's going to be easy.

• 26:09Speaker 02

  I've got no clothes on, I have no skin. So for me to try and climb down the side of a mountain through a forest was a sick, sick game of Twister. I couldn't touch anything, I couldn't use my hands, I couldn't do anything.

• 26:25John Hopkins?

  Still, he has to try.

• 26:29John Hopkins?

  Carefully, he begins to pick his way down the slope. As he moves, everything is muted, dulled, defined by an eerie silence. All he can hear is his own labored breathing.

• 26:43John Hopkins?

  The foam earplugs he was wearing on the plane have been melted into his ear canals by his burning hoodie.

• 26:51John Hopkins?

  And on top of everything else, he's also lost his glasses, so his vision is impaired.

• 26:56John Hopkins?

  Not ideal for scrambling down the side of a rugged mountain.

• 27:02John Hopkins?

  It doesn't take long before Tom's conviction in his plan is tested.

• 27:07Speaker 02

  You wouldn't even recognize how many tree branches brush against your arm and your hands on a normal hike. Unless you're in the condition that I was. I'm telling you, a tree branch touched my arm, I knew about it. I screamed about it. I couldn't physically use my hands to move trees out of the way. I'd look five feet ahead, and I would have to plan on how I'm going to twist and contort my body to get through that next five feet without actually touching a branch.

• 27:42John Hopkins?

  What would ordinarily have been a fairly easy hike has become a twisted game of three-dimensional chess.

• 27:50John Hopkins?

  He makes some progress before encountering a ledge with a small, steep drop.

• 27:57John Hopkins?

  Normally, he wouldn't give it a second thought. It's something even the most inexperienced hiker could overcome.

• 28:04John Hopkins?

  But in his current state, it's a major obstacle.

• 28:08John Hopkins?

  Tom manages to squat and sit on his backside. He then wiggles forward to the ledge and starts to shuffle down it.

• 28:17John Hopkins?

  What he hasn't yet realized is that his back is also badly burnt.

• 28:26Speaker 02

  As soon as I started to wiggle over it, the rocks touched all the burns on my back. And so that shot me forward. And as soon as he shot me forward, I missed the landing. I landed on my hands and it took me back to this place of insanity. Just the sheer pain, just the constant pain, the struggle.

• 28:45John Hopkins?

  White-hot bolts thunder through him.

• 28:53John Hopkins?

  Eventually, he swallows the pain, struggles to his feet, and continues his battle.

• 29:02John Hopkins?

  As time goes on, the gradient of the slope becomes easier.

• 29:07John Hopkins?

  Tom hits a shallow creek and decides to follow it, hoping it might lead to some sort of sign of life. Somewhere, anywhere, he can find help.

• 29:19John Hopkins?

  Spirit's buoyed somewhat by the prospect. He breaks into a light jog, gritting his teeth against the agony that sparks along his synapses with every movement.

• 29:30John Hopkins?

  Soon, the creek drains into an inlet.

• 29:35Speaker 02

  Finally, I made it to a shoreline. I still had no idea where I was. I was looking for a culvert. I was looking for a golf course. I was looking for a, you know, a utility shed, anything. I was just looking for help. And so I get to the rocks of the shore, and I realize that I'm on an island.

• 29:57John Hopkins?

  While getting off the mountain has been an enormous achievement, it's instantly undermined by what Tom now sees.

• 30:05John Hopkins?

  Drained, he stands on the shoreline and scans the horizon.

• 30:10John Hopkins?

  There are no boats, no signs of civilization at all, just an empty, endless stretch of sea and sky.

• 30:20John Hopkins?

  To his left is a steep wall of rock topped by forest. To his right, a shallow cliff leading to a peninsula of large boulders.

• 30:31John Hopkins?

  It's one hell of a setback, but he can't stand still.

• 30:35John Hopkins?

  If he can get to the tip of the peninsula, he'll increase his chances of being spotted. All he needs is one person to see him.

• 30:45John Hopkins?

  Gingerly, Tom begins picking his way across the slippery rocks. He moves slowly, cautiously, aware of the danger.

• 30:54John Hopkins?

  It's tough going, and soon he is forced to leap between the wet boulders. On his third jump, he loses his footing and falls, scraping his blistered skin against the jagged rocks.

• 31:08John Hopkins?

  His raw hands slap the hard, rough surface, and again, he writhes in agony.

• 31:16John Hopkins?

  By the time he reaches the far tip of the peninsula, he's exhausted.

• 31:22John Hopkins?

  Then, as he squints out to sea, something catches his eye.

• 31:30Speaker 02

  The weather's still not improving, but I'm below the cloud ceiling because I'm at water level. And a couple miles across the bay, I can see houses, and I can see boats.

• 31:41John Hopkins?

  Civilization is just there, just across the water. Boats bob and chug on the surface.

• 31:49John Hopkins?

  It's been around two and a half hours since the crash, and now help is almost mockingly close.

• 31:56Speaker 02

  I start losing my mind. Like I'm here, and I'm flailing my arms. I'm just trying to get someone to see me, to come and rescue me. And it didn't take long to realize that none of the boats were turning towards me.

• 32:11John Hopkins?

  As the boats continued to undulate serenely in the harbor, the hope of rescue ebbs away.

• 32:19John Hopkins?

  Weakened and numb from the biting November wind and the sting of icy saltwater, Tom picks his way back across the boulders and returns to the shelter of the forest to recoup a little.

• 32:32John Hopkins?

  He huddles in the lee of the trees, shivering, trying to prepare himself for another attempt.

• 32:39John Hopkins?

  When he's regained some energy, he heads back out into the elements to try again.

• 32:46Speaker 02

  The only option I had was to get seen. And so I would go back out on the rocks. And I'd stand there as long as I could and scream and wave. With less enthusiasm every time, just because no one was coming.

• 33:03John Hopkins?

  It's a grim routine. Over the course of the next two hours, he goes back and forth four times.

• 33:12John Hopkins?

  With every failed attempt to be seen, his hope and his strength fade a little more.

• 33:18Speaker 02

  I'm dying. I know I'm dying. I know I don't have much time left. I'm freezing. You know, I'm mortally wounded. Every second seemed like a week.

• 33:40John Hopkins?

  As the day crawls by, one of the most immediate dangers Tom faces is hypothermia.

• 33:46John Hopkins?

  Having endured scorching heat mere hours earlier, it's now the cold that threatens to devour him. His body is shutting down, and it won't be long until sunset.

• 33:59John Hopkins?

  After returning from his fourth expedition along the peninsula, he decides he has no choice but to head back up the mountain to the crash site. If he can at least huddle next to the smoldering wreckage, he might be able to stave off the cold for a little longer.

• 34:16John Hopkins?

  It could buy him a few more precious hours. It's going to be a hard slog, and the prospect of trying to scramble back up that ledge is daunting. He forces one foot in front of the other and begins his long trek back into the trees.

• 34:32John Hopkins?

  And then he hears something.

• 34:36John Hopkins?

  Even with the melted earplugs impairing his hearing, it doesn't take long to identify the noise.

• 34:42Speaker 02

  I started walking back, and I'm about a hundred meters in, and I hear the distinct sound of a helicopter. And man, I was so angry. I've been out here for four and a half hours. The last two hours I've been on these rocks. And all's I want is visibility. I just want someone to see me. And now that I'm under the forested canopy, there's a helicopter? Like now, of all times.

• 35:13John Hopkins?

  Tom sprints as fast as he can back to the shore.

• 35:17John Hopkins?

  But even as he runs, the sound of the helicopter begins to fade.

• 35:23John Hopkins?

  When he bursts back out of the trees, he urgently scans the sky and the horizon.

• 35:29John Hopkins?

  Cruelly, almost like he's being teased. The lifeline has slipped away.

• 35:37Speaker 02

  And there's no noise. The sound of the helicopter is gone. At that moment in time, I had no fight left, none.

• 35:54John Hopkins?

  It's about 3pm on the eastern shores of South Thormenby Island, off the coast of British Columbia. The day is drawing to a close. Within the next couple of hours, the light will fade, leaving Tom alone in the freezing, plying darkness.

• 36:11John Hopkins?

  His one hope of rescue has just vanished out of sight.

• 36:17Speaker 02

  I just wanted to die. I couldn't. I couldn't deal with the pain anymore. I couldn't deal with the emotional trauma anymore. I had no fight left. I just wanted to die. I surrendered. I was so mad at God. I started yelling at him. "Why did you punish me? Why didn't you just take me with everyone else? Why did you have to punish me? Before you kill me on this island anyway?" I know what it's like to be lonely. I know what it's like to be overseas and miss your family, miss your friends, miss your home. Not like that kind of lonely. That's the loneliest moment I have ever experienced in my life.

• 36:57Speaker 02

  I would have given every physical thing I had or ever would have, just to say goodbye to my mom. Just to call my dad and tell him that we had a good run. I'm so lonely, and none of my friends got a chance to say goodbye to their family. And I was realizing that I wasn't gonna have that chance either.

• 37:21Speaker 02

  Everyone has a different fail button, fail point. Everyone has a certain amount of stress they can take before they break, before they stop. I experienced that point. It took four and a half hours, so I fought as hard as I could for as long as I could. But I literally had nothing left.

• 37:45John Hopkins?

  He stands on the lonely shore and gazes up at the empty, monochrome sky.

• 37:52John Hopkins?

  Then, another sound slices through the silence.

• 37:58Speaker 02

  Fate was just so twisted with me that day. I'm standing there, I want to die, I got no fight left. And of course, I hear another sound, and it's an injure, except this time it's a Zodiac.

• 38:10John Hopkins?

  Hope surges in Tom as a small, red Zodiac boat rounds the headland to his left.

• 38:18John Hopkins?

  He begins waving and screaming, frantic to catch the crew's attention, desperate not to let another chance of rescue slip away.

• 38:26John Hopkins?

  The Zodiac heads straight towards him. In his excitement, Tom starts wading into the icy sea.

• 38:33John Hopkins?

  But the salt water stings his burns so badly that he can't go deeper than his knees.

• 38:40John Hopkins?

  As the boat approaches, he sees it's manned by a search and rescue team. They ask Tom if anyone else from the plane is alive. He tells them he is the only survivor. It's the first time he's had to say those words out loud.

• 38:56John Hopkins?

  Delicately, the crew lift Tom on board, trying to avoid touching the worst of his injuries. They lay him down and cover him with fire blankets, then use their bodies to shield him from the biting wind. They gun the engines and head to the mainland.

• 39:14John Hopkins?

  As the realization that he has been rescued begins to sink in, Tom is suddenly overwhelmed by a tidal wave of emotion.

• 39:23John Hopkins?

  Strangely, relief isn't the overriding sensation. It's rage.

• 39:30Speaker 02

  The whole time, I was screaming at him. I was yelling at these people about where the hell have you been? And I've been out here for four hours. And the people that were saving my life, I screamed at the whole way across the bay.

• 39:46John Hopkins?

  His rescuers are volunteer coastguards from the nearby town of Sea Shelt.

• 39:52John Hopkins?

  Tom will later learn that two local hunters on the island heard first the plane crash and then the subsequent explosion.

• 40:00John Hopkins?

  But through the dense wilderness, they couldn't pinpoint where the noises came from. They notified search and rescue. However, at the time, there were no active reports of missing aircraft.

• 40:11Speaker 02

  So what actually happened was the plane crashed. It was so violent that it destroyed the locator beacon or any emergency signaling systems in the plane. So therefore, Pacific Coastal at the Vancouver Airport didn't actually know the plane had crashed. So I was the speck on this island that no one was looking for.

• 40:39John Hopkins?

  It was only when Tom's plane failed to show up at Toba Inlet that it became clear something was very wrong, and a rescue operation was launched.

• 40:48John Hopkins?

  When the little Zodiac reaches the mainland, it's greeted by a throng of emergency vehicles, media reporters, and onlookers.

• 40:57John Hopkins?

  Tom is loaded into an ambulance, which races him to the local hospital. As a paramedic starts to check his vital signs and cuts away his remaining clothes, Tom begs for oblivion.

• 41:10Speaker 02

  I need you to give me the drugs to just put me to sleep. My friends are dead. I've never experienced this kind of pain in my life. Just put me to sleep. Please, just put me to sleep.

• 41:22Speaker 02

  And he couldn't because he didn't have the license.

• 41:26John Hopkins?

  The paramedic is not permitted to administer the painkillers Tom so desperately needs, and he is forced to endure his excruciating agony for even longer.

• 41:38John Hopkins?

  Eventually, when more medics see to his wounds, he receives some brief relief.

• 41:45John Hopkins?

  After that, everything becomes hazy. Tom is airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital, where he spends three days in intensive care.

• 41:55John Hopkins?

  Then he is flown to a specialist burns unit in Edmonton to begin the long, painful process of recovery.

• 42:02John Hopkins?

  Drugs can only do so much to help.

• 42:08Speaker 02

  The burn ward was relentless. When you have burns, there is no relief from the pain. There's no reprieve. It's constant, and it's for a long, long time. It's not for four and a half hours. It was for months.

• 42:22John Hopkins?

  Incredibly, he suffered no internal injuries or broken bones during his ordeal. But his burns are another matter. They're so serious, his closest friend struggles to recognize him, as does his own father.

• 42:38John Hopkins?

  Pumped full of morphine, entirely reliant on others, and forced to endure a grueling routine of treatment and physio, Tom has to adapt to a new way of life.

• 42:50Speaker 02

  I went from being this really important guy that had succession plans and budgets and flights and meetings and this major career to laying in this bed. I couldn't feed myself. I couldn't go to the bathroom myself. I couldn't change the channel. I couldn't do anything. I literally could not do anything for myself. Everyone was celebrating me. Everyone that saw me, the first thing they did, human nature. "Oh my god, you're so tough. You're so strong. You're so great." That's not where I was. The only thing stuck on repeat was all my dead friends.

• 43:30John Hopkins?

  He struggles to come to terms with the cruelty, the senselessness of the disaster. He could so easily have been in the copilot seat, rather than the position he eventually took up for the flight.

• 43:42John Hopkins?

  He also blames himself for not speaking up before takeoff.

• 43:48John Hopkins?

  Then, one night, when he's recovering in the burn center, he has a transformative meeting with a priest.

• 43:56Speaker 02

  I'll never forget these words. This was the turning point of my life. These specific words. He said, "It is not your job to understand God's plan, but you've been given a gift. You've been given this gift, that you're still alive. And there's a reason for that. And if you can search for and find the reason that you've been given this gift, it'll make it easier." And then he left, and I never seen that priest again.

• 44:27Speaker 02

  All of a sudden, I had this mission in life to find this gift, because, if you think about it, it's perspective change. None of the facts changed. I was still in a hospital bed. I still had no skin. I was still in pain. I was still in trauma. But instead of being a victim, I was now thankful.

• 44:49John Hopkins?

  Determined to extract something good from the tragedy, Tom focuses on recovering as he tries to figure out what to do with the gift that he's been given.

• 45:00John Hopkins?

  But it's not easy.

• 45:02John Hopkins?

  And after leaving hospital, he finds it desperately hard to resume his life.

• 45:07Speaker 02

  I ran away from myself, and this is where I became an addict. I couldn't function. I couldn't live with myself. And so, that was the next eight years of my life.

• 45:20John Hopkins?

  It's a seesaw battle between overwhelming gratitude and overwhelming guilt.

• 45:29John Hopkins?

  Then, one day, his psychiatrist suggests he tries writing. Tom is initially skeptical, but he's willing to try anything that might help. Going over the memories is traumatic, but cathartic.

• 45:43John Hopkins?

  In time, his reflections become a book, detailing his experience and attempting to unpick the reasons why nobody on board that plane spoke up when they felt unsafe.

• 45:56John Hopkins?

  Slowly, he starts to piece his life back together.

• 46:01Speaker 02

  I'll never forgive myself. I still carry guilt. But at least now I can live with myself because I understand my behaviors and I've changed them.

• 46:13John Hopkins?

  These days, Tom is a public speaker who shares his experience with audiences around the world in the hope that it might encourage others to speak up should they ever find themselves in a potentially dangerous situation.

• 46:26John Hopkins?

  He says he puts his survival down to his military experience, his determination to fight, and his ability to stay calm under pressure.

• 46:34Speaker 02

  I think that's something my father instilled in me and the military instilled in me is to get rid of that panic. Panic is your enemy. As soon as you're starting to panic, you need to stop panicking because it affects your decisions. I'm at the gift part of my journey. All these struggles, all this stuff that I went through, it changed me. And now I get to share that with others so they can share a little bit of my perspective without going through the journey that I did to get there.

• 47:07John Hopkins?

  In 2014, on the sixth anniversary of the accident, Tom returns to South Thormanby Island to meet his rescuers and place a cross at the crash site in memory of the seven who lost their lives.

• 47:21John Hopkins?

  The crash was attributed to the pilot taking off in low visibility. It's believed he strayed off course in the fog and lost control of the aircraft upon hitting the treetops.

• 47:33John Hopkins?

  For Tom, it's been a long, torturous road, but he is finally in a good place.

• 47:40John Hopkins?

  Now married with two daughters, his priorities have shifted. And he says he has arrived at a place of greater understanding about what it really means to live.

• 47:50Speaker 02

  My focus was very inward. It was all about me. It was about my career. It was about my, you know, the money I had until the crash, and then everything changed for me. It really changed what's important in life when you see everyone else lose it. I think the biggest thing is I don't take things for granted anymore. I really don't. I put a lot of effort and energy to not taking things for granted and being grateful for what I do have.

• 48:23John Hopkins?

  Next time, on Real Survival Stories. An extreme expedition, an unexpected storm, and an unlikely bolt from the blue, all combined to create the most horrifying of situations.

• 48:36John Hopkins?

  In July of 2003, Rod Liberal is part of a group of rock climbers who set out to summit Grand Teton, the largest mountain in the Teton Range of Wyoming. But during the final ascent, something shocking happens, which changes everything in a flash.

• 48:53John Hopkins?

  Suddenly, Rod finds himself perilously suspended, with a deadly drop below.

• 49:00John Hopkins?

  How did he end up here? Why can he barely move? And is there any hope at all?

• 49:07John Hopkins?

  That's next time, on Real Survival Stories. Listen right now, without adverts, by joining Noiser Plus.