Freezing man clinging to log evades ‘certain death’ in raging B.C. river, video shows

Rescuers who found a man clinging to a log in a raging, icy river between two waterfalls on Vancouver Island knew they had to work fast Saturday.

“We know that he is going to be quite cold, so we wanted to move urgently,” said rescuer Nick Rivers with Arrowsmith Search and Rescue, the Vancouver Sun reported.

The British Columbia, Canada, rescue team swiftly rigged ropes to lower Rivers 85 feet into the inaccessible gorge at Little Qualicum Falls Park, according to the publication.

Rivers immediately found himself swept away by the violent current and had to swim back to the man, still straddling a log in the churning water, CBC News reported.

That’s when the exhausted, freezing man toppled off the log into the turbulent river, the Victoria News reported.

“At that point, he was headed to the waterfall, so I jumped after him and just grabbed a hold of him,” Rivers said, according to the Vancouver Sun.

Fellow rescuer Ken Neden watched as the churning water pounded the two men below, sometimes losing sight of them, CBC News reported.

While rescuers had Rivers securely roped, Neden said it would have been “certain death” for the man if he’d slipped free and gone over the second set of falls, according to the network.

“I just held on with pretty well everything I had,” Rivers said, CBC News reported. Other rescuers pulled the two men to safety using the rope system.

“He appeared to be so hypothermic that he pretty much had no strength left,” Rivers said, the Vancouver Sun reported. “Pretty much couldn’t talk anymore.”

The man was taken away in an ambulance, the Victoria News reported. Rescuers aren’t sure how he got into the gorge, which has no access.

Rivers called it the “most technically challenging rescue I’ve ever done,” CBC News reported.

“When you’re lowered down into a canyon like that, and the water is thundering through it, no one can hear you call,” Rivers said, the Victoria News reported. “No one can hear you whistle. No one can hear you radio. You’re alone down there.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Freezing man clinging to log evades ‘certain death’ in raging B.C. river, video shows."