Two people were seriously injured Wednesday night after the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) they were riding near Sechelt Inlet tumbled down a steep rocky slope and landed in a swamp, according to ground search and rescue (SAR) manager Alec Tebutt.
One person suffered a head injury and was evacuated by air to Vancouver General Hospital from the Sechelt Airport close to midnight. The other person was taken by ambulance to Sechelt Hospital with a possible broken femur.
Tebutt said the ATV was travelling down a steep section of a Forest Service Road leading to Snake Bay but missed a corner and “went way off the road” and down a nine-metre embankment.
“I don’t know exactly how it all happened, but the ATV must have rolled several times. There were parts of it all the way down,” said Tebutt. He believes the two riders were thrown from the ATV and ended up in the water.
Complicating the rescue were the unique safety precautions taken by attending first responders to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Our response is much slower, and it uses up personal protective equipment (PPE), which for everybody is an issue,” Tebutt said.
While Tebutt said Sunshine Coast SAR responded to a handful of serious calls in March, calls have been down “quite significantly” across the province.
