A young woman who survived 12 days in the wilderness has started her long road to recovery.
A broken jaw has left the 25-year-old from the O’Chiese First Nation with a limited ability to communicate, but her uncle said she is getting better.
“What she went through is really quite a story,” said the uncle. “She has quite a story to tell, it’s remarkable how she survived for that long alone. What really helped her was her survival skills.”
Her identity is protected because she is allegedly a victim of sexual assault. Her uncle cannot be identified either because it could lead to identifying her.
She sipped rain water and foraged for berries deep in the woods while she was missing for 12 days in the wilderness near the reserve.
On top of the broken jaw, she suffered from exposure, a mild concussion and scrapes and cuts. Stephanie was found last Friday by an oilfield worker. Before her ordeal started she was last seen in Rocky Mountain House on July 13.
“She’s recovering, but still under a lot of stress right now,” said the uncle.
He said her mother had a really rough 12 days as her loved one was missing.
“It was really bad the way things were,” said the uncle. “A lot of people were saying this and that and that they had seen her. Her mother had lost a lot of hope.”
Every time a new rumour of the 25-year-old’s whereabouts would crop up her mother would get her hopes up, only to have them dashed over the 12 days.
“It was a real stressful couple of weeks,” said the uncle.
But when the woman was found, her uncle said there was a lot of anger and relief.
He doesn’t know how long his niece will be in the hospital.
Before the woman went missing, RCMP said she and four other people were in a truck when it got stuck on the north end of the O’Chiese reserve, just north of Rocky Mountain House.
Three of the people went to go get help, leaving the woman and another man. When their friends didn’t return, the two people started walking. That’s when police allege he struck her in the face and attempted to sexually assault her.
She fled into the bush and after the initial panic she became disoriented.
Kevin Roy Gladue, 36, of the O’Chiese First Nation, faces aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, obstructing a peace officer and attempting to obstruct a peace officer on a separate matter.
Gladue was in Rocky Mountain House provincial court on Wednesday. The case was moved to Aug. 14 for plea. He remains in custody.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com