A B.C. couple and their four-year-old child are recovering after getting lost while hiking on Sumas Mountain on Sunday and spending a night in the cold and rain.
Central Fraser Valley Search and Rescue says the family had to be rescued by helicopter because the mother suffered a pelvic injury and could no longer move on her own.
“Due to weather conditions last night, a helicopter rescue was not possible. Due to the unsafe terrain where the family ended up it was also not safe to extract her on foot with a stretcher,” CFV SAR president James Roe told CTV News on Monday.
Rescuers accessed the group by rappelling down to their location, with the assistance of Mission Search and Rescue.
“We stayed the night with the family, running supplies up to them and trying to warm them up while we waited for daylight to get a helicopter extraction,” Roe wrote in an email.
North Shore Rescue responded at first light with Talon Helicopters, and wrote on Facebook Monday that the family was airlifted and transferred to BC Emergency Health Services for a medical assessment.
“Excellent work by CFV SAR on accessing the subjects in challenging terrain, keeping them warm overnight and providing high quality first aid,” reads the post, which is accompanied by photos of the rescue operation.
CTV News has reached out to BCEHS for more details on the family’s medical condition.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
