Nunavut man survives 5-day blizzard, loses hands to frostbite — and vows to hunt again

Arviat hunter Ernie Eetak survived five days in a blizzard, on the edge of death, and had both hands amputated due to severe frostbite, but he says that won’t stop him from hunting for his Nunavut community. 

“I died for five days and came back to life,” said Eetak from his hospital bed in Winnipeg, where he was taken after being rescued.

On Dec. 3, Eetak, an experienced hunter, set out alone by snowmobile to hunt caribou about 30 kilometres from Arviat, the southernmost mainland community in Nunavut located on the western edge of Hudson Bay. 

His snowmobile broke down, but he quickly