A Quebec fruit picker who went missing for five days in Trout Creek Canyon near Summerland is recovering in hospital from a concussion and serious back injuries after falling from a tree he had climbed to escape a bear.

Summerland RCMP Const. Jacques Lefebvre said Julien Landry was lucky to have survived his ordeal.

“That is a very dangerous canyon and he is very fortunate,” said Lefebvre.

An intensive search using aircraft and ground search and rescue crews last weekend had failed to find any trace of Landry, who was reported missing Friday, two days after he was last seen.

The story he told police after he was found “was something you couldn’t make up,” said Lefebvre.

It appears that Landry, who has only been in B.C. for two weeks and speaks no English, decided to enter the canyon after dinner last Wednesday for a hike and to take some photographs.

“He is employed as a fruit picker. He and his friend had worked all day, and his friend went to bed that night because he was tired. His friend got up the next morning and didn’t see him and thought he had gone to work,” said Lefebvre.

His friend didn’t realize he was missing until Friday when he went to work looking for him and was told he hadn’t been to work for two days.

Police were told Friday he was missing.

A search of the canyon was made with a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft flying grid patterns, while a ground crew went up the sides of the canyon that is 75 metres deep in places and difficult to negotiate.

On Sunday morning, a man walking his dog came across Landry lying face down on a path on the Penticton side of the canyon.

Landry told police he had been chased up a tree by a bear and couldn’t come down because the bear stayed below.

He was unable to say how long he was in the tree, but it appears that he fell asleep and fell onto rocks and was knocked unconscious. He believes he was out for about a day.

He was able to crawl out of the canyon and collapsed on a trail near an orchard.

Lefebvre said Landry could not give exact details of what had happened to him because of his concussion.

“The doctor says his injuries are consistent with someone falling while sleeping or intoxicated, and there is no evidence of intoxication,” he said.

Landry was taken to hospital in Kelowna where he is recovering from a back operation.

gbellett@vancouversun.com

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