A young boy was wet, sore and frightened, but reportedly suffered no serious injuries after he fell over Bowen Park falls and into the Millstone River on Tuesday, March 27.
The incident happened at about 4:30 p.m. while Cole Charlie, 9, was on an outing with his family and lost his footing on the slippery rocks and fell about five metres onto the water at the base of the falls.
The boy’s father, Lloyd Charlie, said the child was going after a stick when he got too close to the edge and slipped.
Cole was able to pull himself up onto a rock and cling to it as Nanaimo Fire Rescue was called to assist with getting from the base of the falls, which were slick with moss, and across the fast-flowing Millstone River side channel and to safety.
Firefighters at the scene estimated the boy’s ordeal lasted about 10 minutes by the time they arrived on scene, which was called in as an assistance call and not a rescue. Firefighters bridged the Millstone side channel with an eight-metre ladder to bring the child to paramedics who checked him out at the scene before he was returned to the care of his parents.
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