Lift used for disabled sailors idled
Coroners service probing what went wrong in fatal incident
The Disabled Sailing Association of Victoria has suspended use of the type of lift involved in the death of a disabled youth on June 21 off a dock in Esquimalt.
Until the conclusion of a B.C. Coroners Service investigation, no Elkhorn manual-powered pool lifts manufactured by Spectrum Aquatics will be used by the Victoria Sailing Association, said Doug Nutting, director of operations. That type of lift was involved in the accidental death of 16-year-old Gabriel Pollard.
“We have cancelled all sails that require our lifts to be used, until the cause of the accident is determined,” said Nutting.
Nutting is not saying anything is wrong with the lifts, which are used by similar associations across North America — only that until the coroner determines how the accident happened, the Victoria association has decided not to use them.
“We own four lifts made by the same manufacturer that are of the same model,” Nutting said. “As a result, we do not feel we should use any of them.”
Nutting said he has been informed that it can take “some time” to receive the official coroners report, “which means it is highly unlikely that sailors requiring the use of the lift will have an opportunity to sail this summer.”
The suspension will not have an impact on the rest of the association’s disabled sailing program because “the majority of our sailors have disabilities that do not require the use of a lift,” Nutting said.
Those programs will run this week as scheduled.
“I have consulted with our staff and they are ready and want to resume their duties,” Nutting said.
“Once again, our thoughts are with the family at this time and ensuring our staff are getting the support they require,” he said.
On June 21 at about 4 p.m., Gabriel, who had a severe form of muscular dystrophy and used a power wheelchair, was sailing with the Disabled Sailing Association.
His Martin 16 sailboat had just pulled into an Esquimalt dock used by the Canadian Forces Sailing Association, a CFB Esquimalt recreational club.
The Disabled Sailing Association, a separate group, also uses the dock, which is off federal land at Munroe Head at Maplebank Road, adjacent to the Songhees Nation.
Gabriel was in a hand-winch sling, being lifted out of the boat, when something failed. He fell from a hoist about four feet in the air, landing on his back on the sailboat, his head snapping back, said his mother, who witnessed the incident. Gabriel then slid into the water.
Association staff and others eventually got Gabriel out of the water.
He left the scene in severe pain, telling his mother he felt “broken” and that he was scared. In the ambulance, he suffered a seizure. At Victoria General Hospital, he was pronounced dead.