Precarious Rescue, Qualicum Beach, British Columbia

"The forces on us were absolutely incredible. To be honest with you, I don't know exactly how I was able to hang onto him for as long as I did. It was definitely not easy. I'm very sore today."

"We found the individual straddling a log in the middle of the river. So a very precarious position.. We know that he is going to be quite cold, so we wanted to move urgently."

"I couldn't pull myself up. The current was much too strong. [Just then] the man lost his grip. At that point, he was headed to the waterfall, so I jumped after him and just grabbed hold. I held him until they could pull us in with the rope system."

"There were a few times I was underwater for longer than I would have liked."

"He appeared to be so hypothermic that he pretty much had no strength left. Pretty much couldn't talk any more."

Nick Rivers, 28, swift-water rescue technician, manager, Arrowsmith Search and Rescue

Arrowsmith Search and Rescue president Nick Rivers. (PQB News file photo)

British Columbia has some extremely spectacular geological sites with amazing features; there are old-growth forests, mountain ranges, huge, swift-moving rivers, lakes and climbing and hiking and kayaking opportunities everywhere on this Pacific Coast western-most province of Canada. Whether it's mountain climbing, skiing, canoeing and kayaking, the province has it all, the outdoor recreational opportunities are endless, and an endless draw to the outdoor enthusiasts who yearn for that outdoor experience, whether British Columbians, visitors from other provinces, or international tourists.

There are dramas aplenty and rescue teams go into action when people find themselves in trouble from landslides to avalanches. On Saturday at Little Qualicum Falls Park on Vancouver Island, a man fell into the river between its upper and lower waterfalls. Which set into motion a high-risk rescue by a local search and rescue team led by Nick Rivers with Arrowsmith Search and Rescue. Because winter is fast approaching the waters are frigid, the rescue team knew that the man who had fallen into the river would be hypothermic and time was of the essence.

 

The Little Qualicum River is known to be turbulent, so swift-water rescue was quite appropriate in the circumstances. Nick Rivers was lowered by rope into the river. There he reached the man clinging to a log, and held him from slipping further where he would be lost to the force of the river heading toward the falls. Where he had fallen, the man was 4.5 metres above the rocky lower waterfall. Nick Rivers had been lowered 26 metres from a cliff edge into the water.

 

Arrowsmith Search and Rescue harnessed a man to safety after he fell and became trapped between two waterfalls on Vancouver Island on Dec. 12, 2020. 0:38   Still from video

 

The plan of operation for the rescue to succeed was to place a harness over the man to enable the team above to raise him to safety out of the river. The trouble was, his rescuer was unable to manoeuvre himself onto the log to offer the opportunity to harness the unresponsively hypothermic man. Until suddenly their positions dramatically altered when the man growing weaker lost his grip and was about to go under, forcing his rescuer to leap forward to stop the man from being totally submerged.

He gripped the man and held him, while he was himself water-inundated and growing colder by the minute. And then it was a grim waiting game where two had to be rescued as the rough, frigid water pounded them, sapping endurance. When finally they were pulled to the side of the river, Rivers was able to attach a harness to the man and they were then both hauled up together. To the rescuer it felt as though hours, not minutes had passed from the time he had plunged into the river to when they were being pulled to safety.

 

"I have to say, I was pretty nervous. Going into the water is always a last resort." The initial plan was to allow the current to take him toward where the man was, to reach him, but it was just "much too powerful." So he ended up missing the exact location and had to kick off the rocks to push himself back upstream. "Unfortunately, that was right when [the man] lost the ability to [hold on]", he recalled.

The man who appeared to be in his 30s had been slumped over at the end of a partly submerged log before Rivers reached him, shown in a video later posted to social media. Once they gained the top of the cliff the man was placed on a stretcher and driven off for medical care. Despite his youth , Rivers has been involved in search and rescue for the last ten years. The volunteer SAR team  trained for close to five thousand hours this year, down from the usual 6,500 hours as a result of COVID.

"[Watching the scene was] really intense. If he'd gone over [the waterfall], it would have been certain death."

"If we gave Nick too much rope, he'd have gone over the falls."

Ken Neden, an SAR manager and rope rescue team leader

 

"In terms of water involvement, this is definitely the most challenging and technical for sure, probably one of the more riskier tasks."

"It is scary. It is not exactly a theme park. It's real life and  you are physically holding onto somebody and mustering every amount of energy you can to save their life. So it's stressful for sure. Yeah, it's a challenge." 

Nick Rivers

Nick Rivers, a search-and-rescue manager who is also a swift water rescue technician, was lowered by rope into the turbulent waters where he lunged to grab the man, holding on until they were pulled up a cliff to safety. Photo by Submitted photo /The Canadian Press