A ski instructor at a California ski resort is being hailed a hero after he grabbed a five-year-old as she slipped off a chairlift.
Video captured the harrowing event at Bear Mountain Ski Resort in California on Saturday.
According to local reports, the girl and her seven-year-old sister had just gotten on the chairlift to begin ski lessons that their mother had signed them up for.
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For unknown reasons, the safety bar on the chairlift had not been lowered, and within moments the beginner skier slipped from the lift.
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The instructor was able to grab the hoodie the girl was wearing, saving her from falling several metres to the ground below.
The girls’ mother told ABC7 that the chairlift continued to move as her daughter dangled, until the screams of witnesses alerted the operator to kill the power to the chairlift.
Several staff members responded to the scene with a tarp to catch the girl.
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Video captured the moment the instructor let go of the young girl, who had been choked unconscious from the collar of her hoodie pressing on her neck.
The girl became conscious after landing in the tarp and suffered bruising across her neck from the hoodie.
The girl’s parents called the instructor a hero, but questioned if the incident could have been prevented.
The area received rain the night before, which according to the parents, may have froze on the chairlift and may not have been cleared off before operation of the lift began.
“We take every precaution to ensure the safety of our guests, a statement from Bear Mountain officials read. “We are looking into this incident and will do everything we can to prevent something like this from happening again.”
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