Influencer couple behind YouTube channel Toyota World Runners killed in crash in ‘the mountains they loved so much’
A POPULAR travel influencer couple who shared their van adventures online have died in a horror off-road crash.
Stacey Tourout and Matthew Yeomans lost control driving through rough terrain in the mountains near Trout Lake in British Colombia, Canada, rescuers believe.
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Stacey and Matthew, from Canada, ran the Toyota World Runners YouTube channel, with more than 200,000 subscribers, and had amassed 72,000 followers on Instagram.
News of their deaths was shared on social media by friends and family and confirmed by Kaslo Search and Rescue, who responded to the scene.
Mark Jennings-Bates, a manager with Kaslo SAR, said rescuers were called to an offroad motor vehicle incident around 7:30pm local time on August 7.
He said: “So it was on a forestry road, somewhere in the mountains, and quite a long ways north in the valley up towards […] the village of Trout Lake.
“Our teams were able to get to them efficiently. It’s a long journey, but they got there efficiently. So that was very, very helpful.
“And of course that means that the helicopter pilot could also fly straight to the destination with confidence that he was going to find them.”
Jennings-Bates said that one of the occupants was dead when they arrived, while the other was rushed to hospital where they later died.
He said the exact cause of the crash wasn’t clear, though the running theory is a loss of control on rough terrain.
It also isn’t known whether the couple had been filming at the time.
Viewers loved watching their explorations across North and South America – and their journey to building the “world’s first Land Cruiser Chinook in 100 days,” according to the YouTube bio.
The custom vehicle combines the body of a Toyota Chinook camper and a Toyota Land Cruiser to create an off-road camper van.
It’s not clear whether they were riding in the Toyota Chinook when they died.
Mark Jennings-Bates urged anyone planning a trip into the mountains to be prepared for the event of an accident, particularly as rescuers may need extra time to get there.
He said: “You’re not on a highway, you don’t need to wear a seatbelt, but it’s always good to use the safety devices that are built into the equipment to help protect you as well.”
Another off-roading creator, Colin Stuart, who runs the Dirt Theory channel, said he was with the couple at the time of the tragedy.
He wrote on Facebook: “I was with them when it happened and did everything in my power to save them.
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“Those were the hardest 20 hours I have ever lived. The hardest decisions I have ever had to make.
“I’m sorry to all that this has affected. This is a big loss for the offroad community and a bigger loss to Matthew’s and Stacey’s family and close friends.”
Fans and friends flooded the couple’s YouTube and social media channels with tributes in the wake of the heartbreaking news.
Fellow content creator Shaun, behind The Story Till Now YouTube channel, wrote: “They were so young and full of life, so talented, and this is a huge loss for our off-road community, their friends and family, and the world.”
Shaun had never met the couple, but they had been planning to very soon and often spoke on the phone.
He spoke to Matthew the day before the accident, when Shaun’s Jeep broke down and he was figuring out how to get it home.
Shaun wrote: “We joked about how we would have finally met up the next day if not for my Jeep breaking down, but talked about getting some firm plans on the books for a trip next month.
“They tragically passed away that very next day in an accident, and I’m just devastated over it.”
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