Over the course of two days this week, volunteer members from the Terrace Search and Rescue team had successfully rescued an injured goat hunter from a mountain side North of Kalum Lake.
Speaking with CRNR News this morning, Dave Jephson, a Search Manager with Terrace SAR, says the rescue was complex, involving a group of four hunters, one of whom had fallen and broken his ankle. Made worse, they were high up on the mountain side in serious terrain.
“So it’s the side of a mountain, very steep. Obviously it’s been raining, so it’s wet and slippery. A lot of dead-fall, a lot of little canyons and ridges. So just getting access to the hunters was difficult.’ – Dave Jephson, Terrace SAR Search Manager, describing the location of this week’s rescue
The incident happened early in the day on Tuesday, but the remote terrain in the heart of the mountains meant the call for help wasn’t able to get through until 8:00pm that night, with the first SAR team reaching the group by land around 3:00am the next morning.
On scene, the SAR team had stabilized the injured hunter, with some SAR members returning home at that point, while the others stayed on the mountain with the group to figure out how they would bring the injured man home. They were eventually reached via helicopter the following day.
“He definitely had two broken bones in his ankle, so we were lucky he didn’t have to ride out on a stretcher or try to walk. So the Helicopter definitely paid off. You know, I would just say, incredible work, incredible support by all the helicopter companies in the region towards Terrace Search and rescue, and that truly made the difference to that patient. He’s stable and getting geared up for surgery. – Dave Jephson, Terrace SAR Search Manager
Jephson adds that the weather during the rescue was awful, and the SAR Team were initially unsure if a chopper would be able to reach the area at all. He noted the professionalism of the pilots from both Canadian Helicopters and Yellowhead Helicopters, who sized the opportunity during breaks in the weather to ferry in a relief crew, and ultimate bring everyone home safely by 6:00pm last night.
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