Prominent Kamloops lawyer killed in skydiving accident
Don Campbell, an experienced skydiver, died Saturday after parachute issue
A seasoned lawyer and skydiver from Kamloops, B.C., has died in a skydiving accident in the Interior city.
Don Campbell was an experienced skydiver but had an "unknown issue" with his parachute during a jump on Saturday, the Kamloops Sport Parachute Club said in a statement released Sunday.
Fire crews, paramedics, RCMP officers as well as several Good Samaritans responded and performed first aid, but Campbell died.
"The absolute cause of the incident is currently unknown and [an] investigation is [in] the hands of the RCMP and coroners service," the club's statement continued.
'I don't know how his shoes can be filled'
Campbell practised law in British Columbia for more than 30 years, having been called to the bar in 1987. Colleagues, both fellow defence lawyers and Crown counsel, said he was a leading, "top notch" attorney who was seen as an expert in skill and efficiency, managing an impressive case load.
"He'll be remembered as a very good counsel. He is a very nice man. He's very fair. He represented hundreds of clients in his career. He did excellent work for every individual," said Crown prosecutor Anthony Varesi in a phone interview Sunday.
"Everybody's very saddened to hear this tragic passing ... The fallout from his loss is going to be felt for a long time to come," Varesi continued.
Another fellow lawyer, Jeremy Jensen, echoed praise for Campbell's work and said the lawyer was often happy to share photos of his skydiving jumps, which he kept on his iPad.
"He never really sort of pinpointed the one exact reason why he would jump out of a perfectly good airplane ... but I think it was what he did and, obviously, he loved soaring through the sky and flying like a bird," said Jensen, who added Campbell had done thousands of skydiving jumps before.
"I don't know how his shoes can be filled ... I don't think those shoes can be filled."
With files from Daybreak Kamloops