An 82-year-old Winnipeg man is safe, sound and very, very thankful after getting lost while running an errand on Monday and winding up stranded on a rural highway, kilometres away from his vehicle, in soaking wet clothing without his cellphone, keys, glasses or a winter coat.

Charles McAulay left his home near Kenaston Boulevard around 4 p.m. on Monday to pick up his truck from a nearby car dealership and got turned around on the roughly 10 minute drive home, he says.

"Once I lost direction, I just lost it," McAulay said. "It was dark then, eh? A lot of the signs on the roads, you don't see the name of the street, whatever it is, and I couldn't read them at that time of the night."

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Meanwhile at home, his wife, Jean McAulay, had contacted police.

"I phoned my friend and she came over and she stayed all night with me," Jean McAulay said. "I cried all night."

"I never prayed as much in my life."

Around 9 p.m., police were able to get through to McAulay on his cellphone and locate him — near LaSalle, Man.

But shortly afterward he hit the road again.

He thinks he was near Victoria Beach, Man., when he swerved off the road and into a ditch full of ice, snow and water where his truck got stuck.

"I said 'Well, there's only one solution that I can think of. I'll walk, to see if I can get anybody on the road to pick me up, or see a house lit up," he said.

As he got out of the car, his clothing got soaked and he lost his glasses. He didn't know where cellphone or keys were, either.

"I couldn't read road signs and whatever. I said, 'What do I do? I just keep walking and hope that somebody passes by and picks me up,'" he said.

It wasn't until around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning that somebody pulled over to help him.

"I just said, 'Oh please Lord help me.' And somebody's looking after me, I'll tell you that, or I'd never have made it," McAulay said, becoming emotional.

"This guy in this little red car come up and he said 'Oh sir, can I help you?' And he was the guy that saved me."

The driver, Landon Navitka, brought Charles McAulay to a nearby gas station and restaurant, where they were able to contact police and McAulay's family and get him something to eat for the first time since the previous afternoon.

Police drove McAulay home. When he finally arrived, he said the first thing he did was give his wife a hug.

"We just hugged each other and the cops were there," Jean McAulay said. "I said, 'I'm so thankful.' What can you say? I said, 'Oh my God, I just can't believe it.'"

After that, she made him a cup of tea and he finally went to bed.

McAulay said he'd like to get in contact with the man who picked him up on the side of the highway to thank him over the phone.