A British skier has told how he escaped in his socks from a pack of wolves after accidentally going off-piste and crashing into a tree while on holiday.
Janveer Sandhu nearly lost both legs to frostbite after ditching his heavy ski boots to run from the predators through waist-deep snow before climbing a tree to get away.
He was eventually picked up by a passing motorist the next day – but still faces losing a toe to frostbite.
‘It was the best thing ever when I saw the car,’ said Mr Sandhu, a project manager. ‘I just thought “I’m going to live”.’
Mr Sandhu’s fight for survival began during a five-day break with a friend in Bansko, Bulgaria, in early February. On the second evening, the experienced skier went down a black run on his own. However he became confused by the signs and ended up going off-piste into steep, dense woodland – where he crashed into a tree at high speed.
He said he then saw three wolves just a few hundred feet away – and they were heading in his direction.
‘I’d started going downhill after the crash but when I saw the wolves I had to go back up. I climbed for about 45 minutes – but it was difficult. I was waist-deep in snow. I was still in my boots so got rid of them. I didn’t think about my feet. I just wanted to save my life. I realised every step [away from civilisation] was death, so I climbed a tree where I spent the night. I ate snow because I was thirsty.’
During the night he saw the rescue teams’ search lights, but says they were too far away to shout. His mobile phone also had no signal. It wasn’t until sunrise that he dared clamber down, trekking for hours before finding a road where he was picked up by a Romanian family.
Mr Sandhu, from Ilford, Essex, was then taken to hospital in Sofia, where doctors battled to save his legs. He flew home on February 13, but was admitted to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford for a further three days before returning to have the tip of his right big toe and all the next toe amputated. However he said he is lucky to still have his feet at all.
