Fate brought Jonathan Hannaford and Yassir El-Tahan together on a Saturday morning almost a decade ago. (Submitted by Yassir El-Tahan)
This first-hand article is the experience of Yassir El-Tahanlives in Bauline, NL. For more information about CBC's first-person stories, visit the FAQs.
On the morning of August 22, 2015, the sun was shining and there was not a hint of wind. I decided to take the opportunity and go to my favorite pond just outside of St. John's for a swim. I usually take my bike, but that day I was in a hurry, so I hopped in my Jeep and took a narrow trail that had been dug into the forest.
As I was well into the trail, I saw someone walking towards me in the distance. It's not unusual to see people on this trail as many use it for mountain biking and dog walking, but as I approached the man, something told me to stop.
After a brief conversation, I learned that he was unfamiliar with the area, so I offered to drive him to the pond I was heading to. He accepted and off we went. From there to the pond, it was about seven minutes of off-road driving. I don't remember most of the conversation, except that he said he wanted to get away to “clear his head.”
“Well,” I said when we arrived, “this is one of my favorite places, have fun!” I went for a quick swim, said goodbye and set off.
Two days later, while eating lunch at work and scrolling through my phone, I saw a CBC News report about the missing Jonathan Hannaford. When I saw the picture, my jaw dropped – it was the man I had dropped off at the pond on Saturday.
This photo of Jonathan Hannaford was circulated in the St. John's area when he was reported missing in August 2015. (Jonathan Hannaford/Facebook)
I called the police and shortly afterwards they were at my workplace taking a statement. One of the main questions was whether he had anything with him when I picked him up. I couldn't remember exactly, but I knew he was in no way equipped to spend a few days in the woods.
A sudden realization
At that moment, I realized that not only was I the last person to see a missing person, but that I had also driven him deeper into the forest, where he had disappeared.
With the information I provided, police stepped up the search. Search and rescue teams were deployed. People were on all-terrain vehicles, on foot, in helicopters and drones in the sky. I joined a Facebook group that Jonathan's father, Brian, had set up to help search for his son.
Shortly after, Brian offered a reward for the search for his son. He explained that his other son, Christopher, had disappeared four years earlier during a camping trip in British Columbia. It was Jonathan who traveled there to identify his brother's body, which had been found in a lake. Jonathan had struggled with anxiety since then, said his father, who also mentioned that his son had left a note in his car, which had been abandoned on the side of the road.
In an interview with the St. John's Morning Show, Brian named me as the last person to see Jonathan before he disappeared.
During the search, Brian Hannaford asked anyone with information about the whereabouts of his son Jonathan to contact police. (Geoff Bartlett/CBC)
I immediately started receiving messages from his family and friends on Facebook and learned more about Jonathan, including that he had uploaded a song to YouTube that he had written and dedicated to his son. The chorus of the song was, “Son, be strong when I go / Hear this song and you'll know / You need to know that I love you.”
It didn't look good.
In a dark place
Jonathan's family and friends asked me to take them to where I had dropped him off, but I politely declined, telling them I did not want to hinder the team's search efforts. In fact, I was in a pretty dire situation the whole time.
Given the note Jonathan had left in his car, his long history of anxiety and depression following the death of his brother, his recent breakup, and the fact that he was unable to spend even one night, let alone several, in the woods, all signs pointed to the worst possible outcome.
Jonathan Hannaford's blue Mustang was found on the side of the Outer Ring Road, which runs through much of St. John's. The keys, police said, were found near the car. (CBC)
I couldn't help but think that if I had taken my bike as usual, not picked him up, turned around and ridden deeper into the woods, things might have turned out differently. If I hadn't intercepted him and he had continued walking straight for another 15 to 20 minutes, he would have ended up on a main road in Airport Heights and left the woods behind.
But just as something told me to stop and pick up Jonathan that Saturday, something told me a few days later that the worst hadn't happened yet and he was still alive. Maybe it was my way of dealing with the situation, but I had to follow my gut. I drove straight to where I'd met Jonathan and shone my flashlight down the gravel road as if I somehow expected to see him coming toward me.
I came up with a plan: I would drive around all night, playing the song he had dedicated to his son at full volume to get him out of his shell.
I went home to make something to eat. If I was going to be out all night, I needed some energy. But as I sat there eating, I realized: This was a stupid idea.
Navigating these trails was difficult enough during the day, let alone at night. What if I got a flat tire? It's happened on these trails before – it would be a very tricky situation. Plus, I had to work in the morning, so instead I offered a lift in a Facebook post at 2:45 a.m. to anyone who wanted to help out after work the next day, and went to bed.
The next morning, in response to my post, I learned that Jonathan had been found alive.
Suddenly a happy ending
I couldn't have been more relieved. Five days earlier, I had stopped in the woods to pick up a complete stranger. A scenario that could have passed for the opening sequence of a horror movie finally had a happy ending.
In a Facebook post, Jonathan thanked everyone who helped search for him and said he suffers from anxiety and depression. He described his days in the forest and mentioned me:
“Somewhere near Windsor Lake I met a very nice guy. He offered to drive me to a place he liked to visit, which cheered me up a bit. … It was nice to be near the water, and that was where I had planned to camp for the last time. I set up camp, boiled water, and picked some berries for dinner.”
I sent him a message on Facebook, but he didn't respond.
I thought about him a lot over the next few years, and seven years later I wrote to him again, reminding him who I was and asking him if he wanted to be with me.
We got in my Jeep and drove back to that spot in the woods. It was Jonathan's first time there since I had first taken him there.
I recorded parts of our conversation for an episode of Atlantic Voice.
LISTEN | Listen to the full documentary about Yassir El-Tahan and Jonathan Hannaford:
Atlantic Voice23:47He offered a stranger a ride – and then feared he had contributed to the disappearance of a missing man
Not only was Yassir El-Tahan the last person to see a missing man, he led him deeper into the forest where he disappeared. The chance encounter El-Tahan had with Jonathan Hannaford has stayed with him for nearly a decade.
Jonathan told me he suffered from anxiety and addiction and didn't know if he would make it out of the forest alive.
“I was at my lowest point and you picked me up with a smile,” he told me. “And I felt like maybe this is how it's supposed to be, maybe I should just get in.”
He told me he didn't know what he would have done or where he would have gone if I hadn't taken him, and that this chance encounter helped him feel better.
“I remember sitting in the truck and thinking, 'Man, how could this even happen?'” he said.
“He just pulled over, he didn't know me, he just pulled over and told me to get in. And I was like, 'Wow, he doesn't even know what's going on.' … I didn't tell you much. I know you left there not knowing anything about the situation, but it really helped when you came.”
After four nights, he left the forest near St. John's airport and called his father from a pay phone, unaware that helicopters and search parties were looking for him.
He told me that the police bought him a Tim Hortons sandwich and a coffee, and that over the weeks he received hundreds of messages from people he hadn't heard from in years, and that he felt the most love he had ever felt.
“It's almost like it cured me instantly,” he said. “I was already feeling better, man. And I really needed it.”
What I learned from this experience is that you never know what someone else is going through.
Sometimes taking the time to stop, smile and educate yourself can make a big difference.
Listen to the audio documentary in the player above, or find Atlantic Voice on CBC Listen, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.
September is Suicide Prevention Month. If you or someone you know is struggling, here's how to find help:
This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health explains how to talk about suicide with someone you are worried about.
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