Search team members rescue an ATV rider who fell down a 10-metre embankment and suffered broke his leg in east Maple Ridge on Saturday.
The call came in at about 8 p.m., Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue leader Rick Laing said the rider was fortunate that his friends knew where he would likely be riding, and responded quickly to the call for help.
He was about four hours overdue. His friends located him, but they weren't able to rescue the injured man due to the steep terrain.
As the search team was staging on the north end of 256th Street, the friends arrived on scene with their information. He was off a B.C. Hydro access road, about 5 km from the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women.
The search team stabilized the patient, who was conscious but in pain, and used a rope hauling system to get the stretcher to waiting paramedics.
The accident happened at about 3:30 p.m. The rider was rescued some six hours later.
Laing said the incident underlines an important safety consideration.
:"When you're ATVing or dirt biking, you should always be riding with someone."
If not for the man's friends, he would likely have spent more of his evening injured and lying in the forest.
Laing said it has been a busy time for the search team, and that was its 10th call since the beginning of May. There is no pattern, as members have had all types of calls, from wilderness searches, a medical rescue, a boat call and a search for an Alzheimer's patient.
Laing would rather not be so busy, but it keeps the team members sharp.
"We train for these things, and to be able to use the skills in real life makes us that much better for the next time."