[News] "I was in an area only for experts": Story of the rescue team that found the body of a young man in La Parva

[FNX Magokiler]

At approximately 11:40 this morning the 15-day search for Tomás van Wersch came to an end. A private rescue team, made up of five specialists, found his whereabouts in the area called Falsa Parva, in the La Parva ski center in Lo Barnechea. The 30-year-old, an experienced sports lover, had been last seen alive on September 7. That day he went skiing with his girlfriend. At one point, Van Wersch decided to go to an off-piste sector. They agreed to meet later at the woman's house. She went down, she arrived at her home, but Tomás did not. That was when he notified the Carabineros.

From that moment on, family and friends mobilized. They went to the ski center every day, they divided sectors in the search. Carabineros GOPE teams worked until the 13th of this month, without success. It was there when the young man's father contacted Galo Viguera. And he with Alice Mella and Ismael Sepúlveda, who participated as volunteers from the beginning. The work of the private team hired by the family began. "There we gathered the team, we all knew each other, but we had never worked together. Each person has a role, because the search is something super difficult and a super difficult process," says Alice, the only woman in the group.

She served as Logistics Manager, Planning Support, and Public Information Officer. Ismael Sepúlveda was the head of operations; Darío Arancibia, the incident commander and head of planning; Leonardo Bastidas the deputy chief of operations; and Galo Viguera was the liaison officer. The latter survived an avalanche last year on Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world, located in the Himalayan mountain range in Nepal. In the search work they used a private helicopter, high-end drones, snowmobiles and the Recco system. The latter was key and the one that allowed him to be found.

 

 

"Recco is a search device that is intended for rescue groups or patrols. It cannot be used by anyone, it must be someone who has the skills, because it is super cumbersome and also super difficult to use. In Chile there are few of us Recco operators. The system consists of two parts: a reflector integrated into the clothing, boots, helmets and body protection worn by skiers or workers, and a detector used by organized rescue teams. In this case, Tomás had a reflective system on their clothing, so we were able to find it. That is why it would be very necessary for all ski centers to have it," Mella details.

The rescue occurred after a week of work by the team. "We always have help from friends and family. We don't even stop on National Holidays. The last few days were complicated by the weather conditions. Ismael found him. He was with his clothing intact, with no signs of an accident, even with his skis on. Tomás was experienced, so he was with all the necessary clothing for this type of expeditions. The body was removed thanks to the ski pistes, since the Carabineros helicopter could not cross due to the wind." What do you think happened? "Within all the statistics that we select, because obviously one has to see the profile of the person who is looking for in an investigation, there is the possibility of a trauma, some important medical history or an avalanche. From the records, in the last "There were no avalanches for days, so it will be the Legal Medical Service that must report the cause." What was the area like where he was found? "As he was an experienced skier, he could also have the aptitude and capabilities to be able to descend that ski line. Just someone who has the aptitude, someone experienced and who knew the terrain that he was going to do."

 

https://www.emol.com/noticias/Nacional/2023/09/22/1107948/relato-equipo-rescate-la-parva.html

Edited September 24, 2023 by [Ty]M@g0k1l3r
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