Two youths who here hiking in Gowlland Tod Park are being applauded by police after they rushed to the rescue when they heard someone crying for help.
The rescue happened on B.C. Day when 18-year-old Gabe Kingston and 17-year-old Kyle Hadley, both recent graduates of Royal Bay Secondary, set out on a hike to scenic McKenzie Bight.
“We hike a fair amount, so we thought we’d do a little bit more of a challenge and do the Jocelyn Hill loop because it’s on an incline,” Gabe said.
As they walked, they happened to cross paths with a woman who had become separated from her 14-year-old granddaughter.
“She said ‘Have you seen a girl wearing pink?’ but we hadn’t.”
The friends kept walking for another few hours and suddenly heard a call in the distance.
“We thought it was like a joke for a second and then we heard it again,” Gabe said.
He said the encounter with the woman made them think there could be a connection, and they sprinted off in the direction of the shouting.
The pair soon spotted the girl some distance up a slope, still a considerable distance away.
“There was hardly a trail and it was super steep,” Gabe said.
He got on the phone to 911 while hurrying toward the girl, with Kyle running ahead.
“It was pretty much like rock climbing,” Kyle said.
He said the girl was in pretty good shape when he got to her.
“She was fine. She was kind of distressed but it was to be expected.”
After Gabe explained the situation on the phone, the call-taker said there had been an earlier report about the missing girl — and West Shore RCMP were on the way.
He arranged to meet police nearby on the road adjacent to Timberman Trail.
But before that, he said things took a light turn when he lost his footing on the challenging ground, fell down and accidentally hung up on the call.
Kyle said he managed to get the girl safely down the slope with assistance from two other hikers who were also in the area.
Gabe had gone on ahead to meet police, and Kyle followed about 20 minutes later with the girl.
“It was all good at the end,” Gabe said.
He said that he and Kyle just reacted to what was happening,
“It was definitely not expected but anyone would have done it,” Gabe said. “It was overall a pretty fortunate set of circumstances that led us there. We are happy she is safe.”
Kyle said he and Gabe met the waiting grandmother, who was understandably thankful.
“She was pretty cool,” Kyle said,
RCMP Cpl. Nancy Saggar said the rescuers deserve public praise.” We want to recognize these young citizens, who heard a cry for help and acted quickly to get a fellow citizen to safety.”
The youths were both given a certificate of appreciation issued by Supt. Todd Preston, officer in charge of West Shore RCMP.
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