Man spends night in wild following ATV accident
By Kyra Hoggan
A dramatic accident/rescue took place in Pass Creek over the weekend, after an ATV and its driver went over a steep embankment.
The driver, a 42-year-old Alberta man, spent an entire night with various broken bones before managing to contact help. The accident took place on Norns Road, approximately 10 kilometers from Castlegar.
“It looks like there was a group of people quadding, and they were racing along, one in front of the other,” said Castlegar RCMP Cpl. Deb Postnikoff.
“At about 6 p.m., the one guy at the end appears to have missed a corner and crashed over a 50- to 60-foot embankment. Everyone else kept going, not having realized what had happened.”
She said the quad fell on top of him, breaking bones in his arms and legs.
It wasn’t until around 8 a.m. the following morning that the man was able to contact help, and an ambulance was sent out, but paramedics were unable to get to the man, due to hugely treacherous terrain.
“The ambulance called in Search & Rescue crews, who also brought out a helicopter, but they weren’t even able to access him by air,” she said. “After a great deal of work, land crews were finally able to pull him up the embankment on a stretcher.”
The man was then airlifted to Trail hospital by DAM helicopters, with non-life-threatening injuries. Pass Creek and Beasley Fire Departments as well as Castlegar Search and Rescue attended the accident along with B.C. Ambulance and RCMP.
Postnikoff said police found no indication that alcohol was a factor in the incident.
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