Danny Filippidis planned to preserve a few memories. He wound up losing many more.
His annual ski trip to Lake Placid, N.Y. with colleagues from Toronto Fire Services was drawing to a close, and the 28-year veteran of the squad realized he'd forgotten to bring a camera to the ski lodge where he was unwinding with friends about half-way up White Face Mountain.
He told friends he'd ski down to retrieve his cellphone, then return to document the end of their sojourn on the slopes. But that quest to capture memories of one trip led to a much more baffling journey the 50-year-old fire captain now realizes he'll likely never be able to fully remember.
Filippidis vanished from the Lake Placid area on Feb. 7, 2018, triggering everything from a family vigil to a massive ground search by New York State authorities.
Questions swirled when he surfaced six days later in Sacramento, Calif., but no one was more mystified than Filippidis himself.
Doctors and police have since been able to fill in some of the blanks, determining that Filippidis unusual ordeal came about through a head injury sustained on that fateful trek back to retrieve his cellphone.