Alone in ultra-darkness, Winnipegger pleaded for help from Facebook friends

AWinnipeggerrescued after a bicycling accident is thanking Facebook, a paramedic and a riding partner with a good sense of direction following a long, scary night in Saskatchewan's Grasslands National Park.

HazimIsmail, an anthropology student at the University of Winnipeg, was three days into a camping trip with partnerMathieuPaill,when the pairset out on the BrokenHillsTrail by bike.

The terrain was full of rocky, rolling hills, remoteand beautiful, says Ismail, who has a non-binary gender identity and prefers the personal pronoun "they."

But Ismail fell when the brakes of their bike jammed on a steep slope and suffered a head wound.Paillrushed off to get help before dark, while Ismail stayed behind"in shock and drooling blood."

"My lower body was fine, but my upper body was all aching, it's still aching right now," Ismail said. "There was blood in my mouth and on my face."

The pair had been warned about bison when they entered the park they're not predators, but it's important not to startle themto avoid getting trampled.

As it got darker, Ismail heard bison getting closer. Ismail hadpromised to stay on the trail, but moved away to stayout of the bisons' way.

Dark sky preserve

It got darker and darker the area is a dark sky preserve, which means no artificial light pollution and Ismail has keratoconus, a condition that reduces depth perception in low light and low contrast.

"It's one of the darkest places, if not the darkest placein Canada," Ismail said. "Majestic, but also scary, because being lost in the darkest place is not the ideal place, not the ideal situation to experience it.

"I was very scared. It felt like I was being swallowed up."

Hours passed.

Ismail was packing a cellphone, but calls were dropped in the remote countryside and the phone's battery was quickly dying.

Ismail was afraidPailland rescuers would be unable them. In a last-ditch attempt, Ismail made a public plea on Facebook: Could someone call 911? Can anyone get in touch with the paramedics to let them know I had to get off the trail?

"There were people co-ordinating, stepping up, calling hospitals," Ismail said.

Of course, Ismail didn't know that. Sitting alonein the dark, Ismail flashed the dying phone's light every time movement suggested a possible rescue.

I was flashing my flashlight at I thought it was a searchlight but it turned out to be just a planet ... in the distance.- Ismail

"We had been camping there for three days, so I knew how great and vast the area was," Ismail said.

"How do you find somebody in the great open like that when there's no cell reception, right? I was really scared and almost ready to give up.

"I was flashing my flashlight at I thought it was a searchlight but it turned out to be just a planet in the distance," Ismail said. "I think I almost gave up. I'm so glad they came in time."

Finally, Ismail's light caught the attention of Pailland the paramedic who came to offer first aid.

Ismail was especially grateful tothe care shown by the paramedic, from Val Marie, Sask., who understood non-binary gender identification andwas willing to use the pronoun "they."

"Shout out to them, they were fantastic," Ismail said.

During the wait for a STARS air ambulance, which took a few hours, Ismail got to enjoy the night sky again.

"When the paramedics were with me and I had to wait and just look up at the sky, because I was bound to the stretcher, it was kind of beautiful," Ismail said. "It calmed me down while I was waiting for the helicopter."

Ismail and Paill trip was supposed to continue west to B.C., but the pair are heading home to recuperate.

That won't stop Ismail from heading back out to the wild just maybe not on a mountain bike trail.

"I love the Grasslands," Ismail said. "I had wanted to see pronghorns for a couple of years now, they're amazing animals. And I managed to see them on that particular bike trail.

"I don't have any grudge or anything.I'm a bit traumatized by the bike, but when it comes to nature and wilderness, things can happen. And you've got to be patient," Ismail said. "I would go camping again, definitely. Maybe not right away."