A tourist visiting Stamp River Provincial Park had to be rescued after falling 12 metres (40 feet) down a steep rock embankment on Labour Day Monday, Sept. 5.
Specialized rope rescue teams from Alberni Valley Rescue Squad and Arrowsmith SAR in Qualicum Beach conducted the high-angle rescue shortly after 3:30 p.m., AVRS spokesperson Richard Johns said. Due to the significant injuries the woman sustained, BC Ambulance called in their critical care paramedics and had an air ambulance from Ascent Helicopters waiting nearby, he added.
Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department also had first responders on hand to assist.
The woman and her husband were visiting Stamp Falls from out of town and walked the path beyond the fish ladder. “The end of the fence line was open so they went past. About five feet beyond the fence line they stopped to look at the pools and she fell about 40 feet,” Johns said.
Alberni Valley Rescue Squad’s swift water team was also on scene because the woman had landed close to the water below the falls. The volunteer rope teams extricated the woman and brought her by stretcher to the waiting critical care paramedics, and she was airlifted to an unidentified hospital.
susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com
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