An intoxicated man in his early 20s was pulled from the waters in Lynn Canyon Park on the Lower Mainland in B.C., Saturday evening.
District of North Vancouver firefighters responded to the “30-foot pool” at the North Shore park around 8 p.m. after the man reportedly fell off some rocks into the water.
Firefighters carried the man on a stretcher up from the popular swimming spot to the parking lot where he was handed off to BC Emergency Services.
The fire department is using the incident as a reminder that alcohol and Lynn Canyon do not mix.
“(The) young gentleman had consumed a fair amount of alcohol,” said Ryan Svendsen with the District of North Vancouver Fire Rescue Service.
“It’s absolutely important that this stays a family-friendly environment. We discourage the use of drugs and alcohol in the canyon.”
Svendsen said the Lynn Canyon Park area is not the place to be while intoxicated, adding the rescue ended up tying up a “fair amount” of resources that might have been needed elsewhere.
The man was taken to hospital.
According to the BC Coroners Service, alcohol and drugs have been a contributing factor in 38 per cent of drownings from 2012 to 2020.
Just last week, a 21-year-old man drowned at the same park, at the Twin Falls area.
North Vancouver RCMP Const. Mansoor Sahak said that incident happened at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
“It was reported that a group of friends were jumping off a cliff at the Twin Falls there,” he said. “And one of the friends who did not know how to swim and had never cliff-jumped, jumped in the water and was underwater for approximately 30 minutes before first responders could get to him.”
Sahak said there have been more than 20 deaths at that site in the last 25 years.