Vancouver police say a man trapped for six days in Stanley Park by fallen trees is lucky to be alive.

Const. Howard Chow said Thursday that police on horseback rescued a 59-year-old man on Wednesday who had been pinned by downed trees in the landmark park at the edge of Vancouver.

The man, whose name was not released, said he was trapped in the park since a powerful windstorm on Dec. 15 brought down thousands of trees. Police said he was not strong enough to pull himself out.

The man told police he discovered he had a disconnected cellphone in his backpack and enough battery power left to make several calls to 911 to give details of his whereabouts.

Chow said police were able to locate the man through the bits of information he provided.

"Initially the call was cut off," Chow said. "He called back three other times after that. Each time it was cut off. Apparently his cellphone battery was dying. But he managed to get some information out to the 911 operator, which eventually led to his rescue."

Police on horseback pinpointed his location, Chow said. "Our mounted squad members were able to find out through landmarking, and the next thing you know, there was this person that was actually stranded inside the park."

Chow says the man suffered dehydration and exposure, but is expected to recover. He reportedly had a little food in his backpack in addition to the cellphone and was able to survive on that and rainwater.

The man was not homeless, but had taken refuge in the park because of a mixup about his welfare cheque, said Sgt. Ron Fairweather.

"Through a misunderstanding, he believed he wouldn't receive a welfare subsidy for the month of December, so he left a handwritten note for his manager saying he wouldn't be able to pay the rent and left his premises."

Second man found

The Vancouver fire department said Friday that crews had located a second man, who was homeless and camping in the park, who survived last week's windstorms.

Search crews found the homeless park resident when they did a sweep of the battered park with infrared cameras on Thursday, said spokesman Capt. Rob Jones-Cook.

"They searched three separate areas of the park, under the direction of the police department, and they did come across one fellow camping in the park. He was OK. As I say, up until then, we did not know that he was in there."
 
The second man was permitted to stay in the park.

Fate of homeless people a concern

City officials had expressed concern earlier this week about the fate of homeless people in the park, saying they were worried after the storm brought down so many trees.

A couple of dozen homeless people have camped deep in the forest of the park for many years.

On Wednesday, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said that two homeless people were missing, but later, Vancouver Park Board chair Ian Robertson said police had accounted for all the park's known homeless residents.

When he checked with police, Robertson was told there was only one homeless person missing over the weekend and that person is now staying with family members.