Family say they’re in mourning after a Nanaimo couple well known for their adventure videos passed away following a motor vehicle incident in B.C.’s backcountry, where search and rescue crews were called in to assist.
Matthew Yeomans and Stacey Tourout succumbed to their injuries in an Aug. 7 “off-road accident … in the beautiful mountains of British Columbia that they loved so much,” wrote Colleen Tourout in a Facebook post over the weekend.
She said her online post came with “unimaginable heartache,” and she asked people to keep the families of Matthew and Stacey in their thoughts and prayers “as we navigate this devastating end to an amazing love story.”
The couple, who previously posted about their engagement, ran the YouTube channel “Toyota World Runners,” which has more than 200,000 subscribers.
The featured video, “The Greatest Road Trip On Earth | The Pan American Movie,” has been viewed more than one million times within about seven months.
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With 345 videos uploaded, the channel description says the pair had “set off on their journey to drive the Pan American and beyond.” Viewers tuned in for “their story about the adventure, the personal growth and choosing to live life and create a legacy community of people who are seekers of the unknown.”
The influencers “built the world’s first Land Cruiser Chinook in 100 days,” reads the channel, which launched in early 2020. They were also popular on Instagram.
Speaking with CHEK News Tuesday, Mark Jennings-Bates, a manager at Kaslo SAR, says people “around the world knew this couple very well, it seems.”
The SAR team was called out to a remote service road east of Trout Lake in the interior around 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7, following a report of a rollover motor vehicle incident.
“We got a very accurate map location, which is always helpful, and some details on the severity of the incident,” Jennings-Bates said over the phone.
He says two people were involved, a man and a woman.
“We knew that one person had been ejected from the vehicle, and another person, on the initial part of the call, we were told was trapped inside the vehicle,” he said.
‘Outcome was a tragedy’
According to Jennings-Bates, witnesses to the incident were able to provide some aid and call emergency services for help.
The SAR manager says the incident happened high up in the alpine, so the team “figured there would be ropes needed.” In addition to a ropes team, ground crews with a quad responded, and a helicopter was also called in.
“We were getting short on pilots … and helicopters that were available, but we were very fortunate to find one that met our team en route, picked up three of our members and flew there. We were on scene relatively quickly, although this outcome was a tragedy.”
The woman “had actually self-extricated from the vehicle” and was subsequently taken to hospital “quite quickly,” Jennings-Bates said in an interview.
“She had a lot of severe injuries, but we were able to package her.”
He says she later passed away in hospital.
The man, meanwhile, had “no vital signs” when the SAR team arrived on scene. “It would appear he passed away. The coroner has to make the decision, or a doctor.”
Jennings-Bates says SAR worked alongside the RCMP and the BC Coroners Service.
These types of calls are “heartbreaking,” Jennings-Bates said.
He told the CBC that the vehicle had fallen approximately 200 metres down a rockfield and would have rolled “many, many times.” He also said he wasn’t sure what caused the crash, but suspected loss of control on rough terrain.
He says SAR teams look to help people when they are in a difficult situation, “and it’s usually just wrong place, wrong time. They have everything prepared, they have everything organized, but something surprises them,” he said.
“In this instance, the trauma was just a little too severe.”
Before venturing outdoors, Jennings-Bates is encouraging people to download the “fantastic app” BC AdventureSmart, which is “always good, no matter what activity you’re doing. Whether it’s bird watching or fishing or alpine driving.”
The AdventureSmart website also provides safety tips.
He goes on to say that “most people, including this couple, were very well prepared. They knew what they were doing. But sometimes, things go wrong.”
In recent days, people have posted their condolences via comments under Matthew and Stacey’s videos, many saying the couple will be missed.
“They are together forever as we knew they would always be,” Colleen wrote.
With files from CBC