\'Second Scott\' saved in Japanese ski town

[url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/second-scott-saved-in-japanese-ski-town/2009/03/22/1237656766157.html]Original Article[/url] [quote]A young Australian has revealed how close he came to dying of hypothermia in the Japanese ski resort town where Brisbane man Scott McKay went missing. Daniel, who did not wish to reveal his identity, said he would have died wandering the streets in Niseko if not for the intervention of total strangers - Ballina nurse Angie Llewellyn-Sare and her GP husband, Dr David Sare. Speaking to brisbanetimes.com.au yesterday, Daniel - also from Brisbane - said he was on holiday in the ski resort just weeks after Mr McKay's disappearance when he left his friends after a night of drinking in the local bars. McKay, a 27-year old IT business owner, who helped developed a skier-tracking system, sparked a massive, ultimately fruitless search when disappeared en route between a bar and his accommodation in February. Daniel said the beginning of his story was eerily similar to Mr McKay's situation. "The last thing I really remember is drinking at the pub, saying goodbye to a girl I was talking to, then going outside," he said. "I had heard about what happened to Scott, but I didn't realise that this was almost exactly the way he went missing. "Its pretty hot here in the bar, so I was only wearing a t-shirt and had a light jacket round my waist." About 6am the same day, Ms Llewellyn-Sare was sitting in her room at a local guest house when she spied Daniel walking in circles, staggering and crying out. "I wondered why he was out there: it was early, really cold and he didn't look right," she said. "Yes, he had been drinking alcohol but when I found him (in the foyer of the building), that clearly wasn't his problem. "He wouldn't have been seen in the foyer he had crawled into and he was only a couple of hours away from dying." Taking quick action, the Ballina couple took Daniel into their room and gave him warm drinks and blankets, despite having no idea who he was or how he had come to be at their doorstep, suffering severe hypothermia. "Even after half an hour he was freezing to touch," Ms Llewellyn-Sare said. Daniel, who is in his twenties, said he awoke to find he didn't remember anything from the bar onwards and no idea where he was. "Angie told me later that she wasn't sure what I'd do when I woke up." Ms Llewellyn-Sare said humans normally feel cold because blood flows from our skin into the major organs to keep our core body temperature warm, but after alcohol consumption, blood flushes the skin giving a warm feeling but leaving core body temperature to decrease rapidly. "I don't think people are aware of the effect of mixing alcohol and the cold," Ms Llewellyn-Sare said. "I have children who are that age and I really feel for his family. After seeing this young man, I can see how easy someone can get into trouble," she said. Daniel recovered over the course of the day and shouted his saviours to a traditional Japanese banquet. His friends, who had thought Daniel had gone off with the girl from the bar, vowed to watch out for each other better in future. "I owe Angie my life," Daniel said. "I've kept in touch with Angie and they've invited me to go visit them in NSW one day." Daniel has now recovered from his ordeal and has a new appreciation for life and its dangers. "I think people need to be more aware of their surrounding when they go to an environment like the snow," he said. "You can die going out anywhere, but I don't think most people know how much extra danger it adds. "I've always lived life to the full, but you just don't realise how fragile life really is until you've been through something like this."[/quote]