Surrey woman trapped for days in ravine rescued after passerby's 911 call
Rescue crews unsure how woman ended up there, but she is expected to recover
A woman was rescued and is in hospital thanks to a passerby who called 911 after she had spent days at the bottom of a ravine in Surrey, B.C.
Clint Whitla said he was just enjoying nature in one of the more secluded areas of the city Monday when he heard a woman's calls for help.
"I guess I was making a lot of noise," he said. "She heard me and called out for help.
"She said she fell, I guess rolled off the wrong way. It was a good 50-foot [15.2-metre] drop. She got bruised and banged up pretty good."
The woman, whose identity has not been released by officials, was found beside Delta Creek, a small waterway in the northwest part of the city.
Battalion Chief Gary McHarg of the Surrey fire department said firefighters were called to Scott Road and 96th Avenue after receiving the phone call.
"We found a woman in sound distress at the bottom of one of our ravines," he said.
"She was conscious at the time [and] BC Ambulance will be assessing to see the extent of her injuries."
'I just made a phone call to help another person'
When talking about the day she had fallen down the ravine, the woman gave both last Tuesday and Thursday, said Whitla.
"She was barely conscious, laying there. She wasn't able to get up or move ... a day or two more, exposure would have gotten to her."
Whitla said his role in the rescue came down to simply being in the right place at the right time.
"I don't think that I'm a hero or anything," he said.
"I just made a phone call to help another person."
With files from Jesse Johnston