A Vancouver Island mountain biker is warning others after he almost had his throat slit by wire hung across a park trail.
Derek Kidd was mountain biking on Wednesday afternoon at Durrance Lake in Saanich when he was caught in the neck by a wire.
Although Kidd saw the wire out of the corner of his eye and tried to duck it, he crashed into the wire, which slashed his neck causing a burn.
“I went straight into it. It wasn’t very tight, which was good, so I managed to pull away,” Kidd said. “It could have been a whole lot worse if they had used a thinner cable or I had been going faster.”
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The avid mountain biker posted a picture of his injuries on Facebook to warn others.
“Unfortunately you will now need to use extreme caution riding in the Durance Lake area, also known as Partridge Hills in Victoria, B.C. Someone has strung wire or wires or neck height. If you know or see anything, please contact authorities immediately,” he said.
Police investigated the incident and worked with Capital Regional District parks employees to determine exactly what happened.
Kidd lead the way to the trail and the group found the cable embedded in the tree more than 15 feet up.
Police said the wire has been there for possibly 30 to 40 years and was not placed there with malicious intent.
Police have several theories on how the wire got there.
According to Sgt. Steve Eassie, the wire likely dates back to a time when forestry was active in the area or may even have been a telegraph wire.
Eassie said in a release the wire may have been pulled across the pathway as a joke, to deter others from using the pathway or may have been placed there accidently.
However, mountain bikers are still being warned that other wires could be in the area and are urged to use caution.
With files from Kylie Stanton
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