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‘Very, very lucky,’ man’s SUV plunges 200 ft. down embankment near Qualicum Beach

May 23, 2017 | 4:48 PM

PARKSVILLE — Emergency responders say a man is lucky after rolling his vehicle down an embankment north of Qualicum Beach on Tuesday.

It happened just before 1 p.m. May 23 on Highway 19 at the Little Qualicum River bridge in the southbound lanes, leaving the driver stuck inside his SUV, according to Qualicum Beach Fire Department chief Daryl Kohse.

Kohse, who went to the bottom of the ravine to tend to the driver, told CTV Vancouver Island the driver was alert.

“He was coherent, he knew what day it was, he could talk to us, he knew where his injuries were,” Kohse said. “But very, very lucky.”

The driver, a 25-year-old Bowser man and lone occupant of the vehicle, was flown to hospital.

The jaws of life were used to pry the man free. Kohse said the vehicle tumbled a long way.

“Approximately down about 200 feet…apparently the vehicle rolled multiple times before coming to a stop on its roof.”

Oceanside RCMP Cpl. Jesse Foreman said the driver appears to have non-life threatening injuries. He said it’s unclear why the vehicle left the road like it did.

“We have ruled out alcohol and drugs,” Foreman said. “Looking at the tire tracks, the vehicle just left the roadway and travelled on a straight line right off the road.”

Southbound traffic on the Inland Island Highway south of the Horne Lake turnoff was shut down for 40 minutes as an air ambulance briefly landed on the road.

-with files from Jessica Lepp, CTV VI

 

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