He remembers being sick by the side of a road at what appeared to be a truck stop, and then learning he was driving through Utah. He recalls climbing into the warm cab of a truck still clad in his ski boots and winter clothing. I think that's when I came to the realization that I was a missing person. Memories of what happened next are fragmented at best. Investigators later determined that Filippidis likely fell near a children's ski slope and worked his way to the hub of kids programming, an area that's sparsely populated and would have been closed at the time.įilippidis suspects he then flagged down a truck in the hopes of securing a ride off the mountain. He made his way to what he mistakenly believed to be the main ski lodge, only to find it closed and deserted. He has no recollection of a fall that knocked him out and likely caused a concussion, but recalls coming to at "dusk" feeling sore and disoriented. Filippidis says he believes his misadventure began when he took a wrong turn on the way back to the car. "I feel fortunate that I'm here talking today because of all the potential things that could have resulted," he says. Now, as he returns to work, he says he often dwells on what could have happened. 'I feel fortunate that I'm here talking today'ĭoctors and police have since been able to fill in some of the blanks, determining that Filippidis' unusual ordeal came about as a result of a head injury sustained on that fateful trek to retrieve his cellphone. "It's still overwhelmingly shocking that it happened," Filippidis told The Canadian Press in his first interview since disappearing on the slopes. When he surfaced six days later in Sacramento Calif., some 4,000 kilometres away, the veteran firefighter says he was just as mystified about his cross-country trek as everyone else. 7, triggering a massive ground search that involved state authorities, family and friends. to come forwardįilippidis vanished on Feb. Police want anyone who may have seen Toronto firefighter on his journey across U.S.Toronto firefighter believed missing found 'alive and in good health' in California.
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