A 74-year-old mountain biker fell from a steep embankment at the Englishman River Falls Park and had to be rescued by the Arrowsmith Search and Rescue.
The incident happened on Friday, Aug. 2 at the mountain biking trail where the popular Hammerfest event take place annually. The man had to be airlifted to safey.
"He was on a trail near the river, came off and fell down a really steep embankment," said Ken Neden of ASAR. "He suffered serious injuries and was not able to ride out on his own."
ASAR had approximately 25 of their members respond to the call. Neden said reaching the injured biker was challenging as they had to go through a remote, rugged and densely forested terrain. Neden said they drove their all-terrain vehicles and 4x4s as far as they could and hiked the rest of the way.
"It was at a part of a more difficult trail of Hammerfest," said Neden, who added they sent their long-line team to the site. "We were able to get to him and he was conscious and doing better than we initially thought. But he had some back pains and other issues."
To help extract the fallen rider out of the park, ASAR had to request assistance from Airspan Helicopters. The man was first placed on a stretcher and then moved to an open area to allow the helicopter to drop a line and execute the airlift rescue. One of the ASAR's line experts accompanied the man on the stretcher, who was eventually flown to a waiting emergency ambulance nearby where he was treated for his injuries before being driven to hospital.
The next day, ASAR was again called out to assist another mountain biking incident in the Burnt Bridge area Shawnigan Lake. ASAR assisted the Cowichan Search and Rescue and the Shawnigan Fire Department in bringing the injured mountain biker out of the area.
