A man was taken to hospital Monday night by an air ambulance after falling off a cliff at Pipers Lagoon Park in Nanaimo.
The man, described as being in his 60s, was found unresponsive in the park at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Mike Haverstock, who was the first one on the scene, was out for a walk in the park at the top of the ridge when he and his girlfriend spotted a pair of walking sticks unattended.
That’s when Haverstock looked over the edge and noticed the body of the man lying on the shoreline below.
Springing into action, another nearby park-goer who was out walking in the same area helped show Haverstock how to get down to the water in order to help.
“We got down there and the man was lying unconscious on the rocks about 50 feet below from where we had been standing on the cliff and he was bleeding pretty bad,” Haverstock told CHEK News.
Haverstock added that the man was making noises, but nothing was coherent. He and his girlfriend applied pressure to the man’s wounds and stayed with him until first responders arrived approximately 10 to 15 minutes later.
“We were just hoping that he was alive and we could see from the top that there was blood pooling around him,” recalls Haverstock after being the first person to spot the man following the fall.
Nanaimo Fire Rescue and BC Emergency Health Services attended the scene.
An air ambulance also attended the scene and flew the man to hospital approximately two hours after he was discovered.
His injuries are believed to be possibly life-threatening, however, an update on his current status isn’t available at this time.
CHEK News
