Coquitlam dog walker in good spirits after surviving two nights in the woods

COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – The dog walker who was rescued yesterday from the Coquitlam watershed after is a bit beat up, but in good spirits. She spent two nights out in the woods, in the pounding rain.

Annette Poitras has a bruised back after falling against a tree. Her knees are also a bit banged up. But her husband, Marcel, says the good news is that his wife has no broken bones.

“She was pretty exhausted. Pretty mentally worn-out. Her throat’s sore from yelling at helicopters that can’t hear her,” he tells NEWS 1130.

Marcel says Annette is only now starting to wrap her head around how much attention her disappearance garnered from the public. “I [think] she’s only now starting to grasp the enormity of the situation.”

“She was worried, [asking me] ‘You didn’t tell my dad, did you?’ It’s like, ‘Yeah, pretty much everybody knows.’ So, she’s starting to grasp that, now. I’m going to take her home and show her some of the news reports.”

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Annette went missing on Monday, along with three dogs. All were found safe yesterday. Marcel says the animals helped Annette survive the two nights in the pouring rain.

“She noticed the dogs were sweeping away the wet overgrowth… trying to get down to the dirt and were sleeping on that. She did the same and that seemed to help her out a bit. The dogs helped her and she helped the dogs.

LISTEN: NEWS 1130’s Martin MacMahon speaks with Marcel Poitras, the day after his wife was found safe

The Poitras family is once again thanking everyone involved in her rescue — especially the trained volunteers who took time off work to help.

“The people who are volunteering their time — walking away from their jobs to pay their mortgage — to help people in need, they deserve the support. These are extremely talented, dedicated, hard-working… there are so many words. They’re passionate about what they do, they’re compassionate about how they do it. They deserve everything they can get and we need to support [them]. Those people who don’t think that will happen to them — It just might,” says Marcel.

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