Rescuers are calling an elderly man who rolled his all-terrain vehicle as much as 75 feet down a steep embankment in West Bench Monday, “a tough customer.”
“Especially with his quad going over with him and there was a lot of not nice stuff down there – rocks and cement and garbage people had dumped in the ravine – that he missed, so he was pretty lucky,” said Capt. Rob Trupp of the Penticton Fire Department who was at the scene along with members of the department’s technical rescue team. “We managed to get two rescuers down to him, we packaged him up in a basket stretcher and we hauled him up the bank to an ambulance that was waiting there.
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“He was conscious and talking. I’m not sure what his injuries are and the last I heard he went to Kelowna.”
Trupp estimated the victim to be between 75 and 80 years old and that the man’s injuries and the cooler temperature at the time made for “urgency” in getting him to safety.
The accident happened behind a residence in the 4400-block of Sage Mesa Drive, the initial call coming in around 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 9. It’s believed the man lives in the area.
“From what I heard a neighbour called it in when he heard a crash, he (neighbour) was out in his backyard and he was helping out as well, he was actually the first guy down there,” said Trupp, who added the crews on scene were well-versed in embankment rope rescue and used the lights from the rescue vehicle to light the accident scene.
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Mark Brett | Reporter
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