Cliff jumper sustains “significant” back injuries

VERNON – A Kalamalka Lake cliff jumper was taken to hospital Sunday afternoon with significant back injuries.

Leigh Pearson, Vernon Search and Rescue  manager, says the team was called around 4:30 p.m. to assist in transporting a young woman from Cosens Bay to the Kalavista boat launch, where B.C. Ambulance was waiting.

Pearson can't confirm how her injuries were sustained, noting sometimes all it takes is hitting the water wrong to seriously hurt yourself. He speculated the patient was a teenager.

Search and Rescue moved her by boat instead of traversing the bumpy terrain around Cosens Bay.

"It takes 15 minutes by boat, or 45 carrying a stretcher," he says. "It's a lot more comfortable for the patient by boat, much smoother."

It took one boat and twelve rescuers to move the girl. Pearson says she was able to move her legs, and won't suffer any paralysis.

"(Cliff jumping) is one of those things kids do," Pearson says. "Every once in a while, something bad happens."

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.