Marine search and rescue volunteers were called into duty to help a man who found himself in a precarious position after fracturing his leg in a fall in Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver last week.
West Vancouver’s Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) group were tasked around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 16 to assist West Vancouver Fire and Rescue with an injured hiker in Lighthouse Park.
The man was hiking with his family and dog when his foot slipped on the trail and he heard a “snap” to his left leg as he fell, said Jason King, coxswain of the rescue vessel.
“It’s fairly good terrain for walking around on, but it’s still a park,” King said. “It’s still the shoreline, loose gravel and rocks and that type of thing.”
After the man fell, he was stuck in a dangerous position on the rocks. But the hiker wasn’t there for long as rescue crews got to the area in seven minutes, where they and firefighters began the challenging task of carrying the man down in a clamshell stretcher onto the rescue crews’ boat.
Once the hiker got on board, rescue volunteers covered him in blankets and transported him to the Government Pier in Caulfeild Cove where paramedics took the man to the hospital.
“He was in good spirits, considering what he was going through,” King said. “He was quite grateful for everybody’s service.”
King said appropriate footwear, water, layers of clothing and a small first aid kit are all “key ingredients” for people to bring when hiking, as accidents can happen at any time.
“But ultimately, I think this was just an accident where he slipped and had a bad fall,” he said. “And that’s unfortunate, it does happen … we were just really grateful to be a part of the rescue.”
Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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