The man who was trapped in a crevice along the Bruce Trail celebrated a milestone on Tuesday with the men and women who helped rescue him.

Gilbert McInnis happened to be walking along the Bruce Trail on June 21, when he heard Seth Rowe's call for help. Rowe a father of two, was stuck deep inside a crevice at the Nottawasaga Bluffs, where he had been trapped for more than eight hours.

“All I saw was a light shine in and someone say, ‘hello’. So to me, it was a saving grace, it was like angel speaking to me,” says Rowe.

Firefighters from Clearview Township, Barrie and Toronto worked together through that night to save Rowe from the icy cave. Yolanda Gallo was there with McInnis and stayed to see Rowe pulled to safety.

She organized a get together on Tuesday to celebrate his 31st birthday and his rescue.

“Finding him was one thing, but having him hold on for that long period of time… I can't imagine somebody being stuck in a place like that,” she says.

This was Rowe's opportunity to thank some of the people who rescued him. Clearview fire Chief Colin Shewell says all of the people involved are connected now.

“Three weeks ago I wouldn't know any of the people here, outside of a few first responders. It's a great feeling. It’s what this job is all about,” he says.

Not only did firefighters rescue Rowe, McInnis says they saved his whole family.

“The fact that it happened on Father's Day is a bit of a miracle because these two kids of his have a father now, whereas before they wouldn't have had a father,” he says.

Rowe says the reality of what happened to him is still sinking in and knows this birthday party almost didn't happen.

“If one person didn't do what they did , there would be no life for me, there would be no birthday, no Father's Day. My children would have lost their father on Father's Day, which would have been horrendous to have Father's Day the day your father didn't come back.”