'Really lucky': Man rescued before going over Lynn Canyon waterfall

A man was pulled from the water in Lynn Canyon Monday afternoon, when he was about 10 metres away from plunging down a waterfall, District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service says.

The rescue happened at about 3:30 p.m., when North Vancouver park rangers received a call about a man in his mid 20s who was in distress because he couldn’t get himself out of the river, Asst. Fire Chief Scott Ferguson told CTV News in an interview.

With water levels as high as they are, the currents are very strong, he explained. As such, the water was pulling the man toward a waterfall that can be seen from the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge.

“If he lost his footing, he would have gone over the waterfall,” Ferguson said.

Park rangers threw a rope to the man, and he held on until DNVFRS arrived. Fire crews used a 50-foot-long pole with a cinch collar at the end of it to pull the man to shore.

He was treated by BCEHS once out of the very cold water. There is no word on the man’s condition, but Ferguson says he will likely be okay once he warms up.

The area below the waterfall is known as the “90 Foot Pool,” and is a popular cliff-jumping spot, despite the numerous deaths and injuries that have happened there over the years.

It is not confirmed how the man ended up in the water, but Ferguson believes he wasn’t cliff jumping, or else he’d be in the 90 Foot Pool, not upstream, he explains. The man was likely swimming with a small group of friends in the waters above.

He’s a “really lucky guy,” Ferguson said.