Cliff jumper dies despite rescue attempt in Lynn Canyon

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A 21-year-old man has died in a cliff jumping accident, prompting a warning from rescue crews not to take these risks as a way to cool off as a heat wave settles over Metro Vancouver this weekend.

On Wednesday evening, North Shore Rescue crews were called out to the Twin Falls Bridge area of Lynn Canyon. According to NSR, firefighters with the District of North Vancouver had already retrieved the patient out of the water. The person was treated by paramedics before being hoisted into an NSR helicopter for transport to hospital.

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Rescue crews said the person was in critical condition, which would have made ground extraction difficult.

Dave Barnett, NSR search manager, said he was told the young man was not a strong swimmer, and that he was in the water for about half an hour.

He said the pools have strong currents and steep, slippery slopes making it difficult to get out. Twin Falls is near the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge and is accessed by a bridge over a fast-moving creek.

NSR responded with two of its advanced medical program personnel (an emergency room nurse and physician) and helicopter rescue personnel in Talon Helicopters, according to the NSR.

Crew members provided care with paramedics and fire personnel and then hoisted the patient into the helicopter for transport, NSR said.

The helicopter team landed at the Helijet harbour terminal in Vancouver and transferred the person to ambulance for transport to VGH.

However the patient died en route to the hospital.

“With the coming hot weather, this call serves as a good reminder of the dangers inherent in and around the water — and cliff jumping in particular — in Lynn Canyon and the other creek/river gorges and cliff areas throughout North Vancouver and Metro Vancouver,” NSR said in a post on Facebook.

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“Yes, the water can be cool and inviting, but far too many deaths and serious injuries have resulted from even the slightest miscalculation. For your own safety, please consider an alternative method of cooling off this weekend and this summer.”

Over the last decade, 355 people have been critically injured from falling or jumping from a cliff, mountain or high point outdoors. Between 2012 and 2022, there were 25 cliff-jumping deaths in B.C., according to the B.C. Coroners Service.

Meantime, Mounties in Agassiz also issued a water safety reminder on Friday after several swimmers needed to be rescued from Harrison Lake.

Officers were training on the lake Wednesday when they noticed a group of people on flotation devices who had been pushed away from shore by the wind. They had become exhausted from swimming and officers had to throw them a line to tow them to safety.

The RCMP urge people heading out in the water to wear personal floatation devices, especially those who are not strong swimmers or are children. They also ask that people also be aware of cold water risks and whether there are fast-moving currents.

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Dr. Michael Schwandt, a medical health officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, told Postmedia last summer that cliff jumping is dangerous due to underwater hazards like rocks that may not be visible from the surface. The depth of the water can also change depending on the tide or the season.

Slamming into rock or other objects from a height can lead to bone and vertebrae fractures, spinal injuries and concussions — conditions that can have serious, long-term effects, said Schwandt.

Heavy water flow and and rocky terrain can also make rescue attempts difficult. In 2018, three members of a popular YouTube travel blogging collective died after being swept into one of the pools at Shannon Falls in Squamish.

Ryker Gamble, Alexey Lyakh and Megan Scraper hiked up to the pools to swim. When Scraper slipped and fell 30 metres, Lyakh and Gamble attempted to save her but were all also swept away by the fast-moving water.

ticrawford@postmedia.com

With files from Cheryl Chan

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