A child has been hospitalized after falling off a cliff at Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver Sunday afternoon.
Officials said rescue crews arrived just after 1:15 p.m. to reach the child, who fell off a mossy ledge.
“The crews hiked into a trail on West Beach. A youth had fallen from the rocks there off a cliff,” said Martin Leduc, West Vancouver Fire Rescue assistant chief.
Leduc said the child, who is under the age of 10, was conscious when the crews were performing the rescue.
“We knew it was a fall so we just attended to the scene and made our way down to the patient via ropes,” Leduc said.
Hiker Paul Norris said he was geocaching in the park with his children when the ambulance and fire trucks arrived.
Rescue climbers told him the victim "had two nasty gashes on the head and wasn't doing very well."
Norris said the accident serves as warning for his children.
“Before we even got here I talked to my kids about making sure that we’re not going near any edges just because of how slippery things can be and there’s a lot of loose gravel and moss so it’s quite easy to slip and fall,” he said. “If things don’t even look close to being safe then [don’t] go near it.”
There are warning signs posted at the park’s entrance and Leduc cautioned people to stay away from rock cliffs.
“It’s a beautiful park, however there are many risks here and I would encourage people to keep their families and even themselves away from cliff edges. We attend many rescue calls here throughout the summer. It draws lots of tourists and lots of people but there are many hazards here,” he said.
The Coast Guard was called to transport the child by water to an ambulance. The child is now at BC Children’s Hospital and Leduc said it was too early to comment on the condition of the child Sunday afternoon.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Tom Popyk
