One person was taken to hospital with serious injuries Saturday after being rescued in Golden Ears Provincial Park by Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue.
A man had jumped into the water by Lower Falls in Gold Creek around 5:30 p.m. and couldn’t get out.
A woman who was with the group tried to help him, but slipped down a rock face and went over the falls, about 30 to 40 feet.
One or two other members of the group pulled her from the water at the bottom of the falls.
Witnesses had to to hike about 30 to 35 minutes to get cell service and call 911.
Ridge Meadows RCMP, firefighters and the search team responded.
Everyone was out of the water by the time they arrived, but one person sustained a head injury, as well as injuries to her arms and legs, requiring a lengthy rescue and transport to the parking lot.
“This girl was extremely lucky,” said Ridge Meadows search and rescue team manager Rick Laing.
“Just about every year we get a call up there,” adding there have been several deaths in recent years related to swimming in that area.
What people don’t realize, Laing said, is that the water is cold from snow melt at this time of year, and combined with the current, makes swimming difficult.
Warning signs and fencing in the area are often ignored, he added.
While Golden Ears is a beautiful park, Laing said, it is a fair distance from town and it takes emergency services time to response to calls for help.
A cell phone tower has been proposed for the park, but Laing doubts that would speed up response times much.
The park is still 15 to 20 minutes out of town.
“You are still a long ways from help,” he said.
“People need to realize, these areas a beautiful, but they carry a lot of danger.”
