Eight Days to Live movie based on Joe Spring

Joe's story is an awesome survival story. He had disappeared for about 8 days before he was found alive. He was found inside the wreckage of his red sports vehicle. Joe was just 19 years old at the time. The real story happened in British Columbia.

Timeline Joe Spring

by Traciy Curry-Reyes

May 21, 2001: 

Joe Spring, 19, is excited about going to his friend’s graduation. He is desperate to arrive on time and drives all night. He is driving his red sports car when suddenly his car veers off the road, hits a tree, and goes down an embankment. Joe Spring is trapped inside his car. His ankle is broken and he is hungry. Joe Spring’s parents, Teresa and Tim Spring, frantically try to find out what has happened to their son. 

May 28, 2001:

Helicopters launch a search for the missing teen.  The rescue search goes on for days and is almost called off until Jodeen Cassidy, a helicopter pilot thinks she sees something red right off the road. As helicopter pilot, Cpl. RAMEY starts to walk down he sees debris strewn about, then he can actually see someone in the car. When he gets closer, he sees his arm move. He shouts: He's alive!!!

When he is rescued he is barely conscious and a little disoriented. He is also dehydrated, weak, and has lost weight. There are also some broken ribs and some kidney issues, but other than that he is ok. Joe Spring has beat the odds. The police and all of the rescuers are so shocked that he could survive under those conditions for eight days. When his mother sees a picture of his car on the news she starts to cry. She cannot imagine how he could have survived such an ordeal.

The whole time Joe Spring was thinking of how devastated his family would be if he didn't survive. It was this though that kept him going.


Tidbits

According to police sources, he would not have survived another day most likely. His will to live and a bottle of water is what kept him alive.

After surviving the ordeal Joe Spring's family did several interviews in Canada. The female helicopter pilot also did interviews about her finding Joe Spring. In one interview, she talked about the hunch that she had that he was still alive and that she would find him. She had actually dreamed that she would find the red car on the side of the embankment.

Cited Sources

CTV Television

NBC News May 2001