A six-year-old boy is a bit banged up but otherwise OK after falling roughly 12 metres down an embankment while hiking one of the North Shore's most popular trails.
District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services and other emergency responders rushed to the Baden Powell Trail just after 1 p.m. Monday when the boy's family called 9-1-1. Rescuers, who had some difficulty pinpointing the boy's exact location, rushed to the area from both the Grouse Grind trailhead and from above on Skyline Drive. The Skyline Drive crew found the boy and his family at the nexus of the BCMC and Baden Powell trails about 10 minutes later.
"He did take quite a tumble. The reports of 40 feet are probably not unreasonable," said Jason De Roy, spokesman for district firefighters.
Emergency crews stabilized the boy on a stretcher before taking him to the ambulance, which was waiting at the top of Skyline Drive.
Despite the steep fall, the boy appeared to be in good condition. "He's got a pretty good cut on his head and a sore back and some road rash on his back but other than that, he was doing pretty good," De Roy said. "He was obviously a bit sore but in good spirits." Crews gave the boy a stuffed puppy for being "such a brave little boy."
That area of the trail has several steep sections in it, De Roy said. He said they don't know how the boy fell.
