Sailing program back after fatal accident
The family of a teenager who died during a Disabled Sailing Association outing is appalled the sailing program has resumed.
Mother Carrie Pollard, who witnessed her son Gabriel, 16, dropped from a hoist, pulled from the water, and transported to Victoria General Hospital where he was pronounced dead, believes the sailing program should be temporarily suspended.
Gabriel was unable to walk and used a wheelchair.
“My sister didn’t know they resumed sailing,” said Marcus Pollard, uncle of Gabriel. “She is beyond appalled.”
The majority of the association’s sailors have disabilities that do not require use of the lift involved in Gabriel’s fall.
Those sailors are going out “with instructors and safety boats on the water,” said Doug Nutting, director of operations for the Disabled Sailing Association of Victoria, on Thursday. “The fact we have resumed sailing is a statement in itself.”
Pending the outcome of a coroner’s investigation, the Disabled Sailing Association has suspended use of its Elkhorn manual-powered pool lifts manufactured by Spectrum Aquatics.
After the accident, Nutting said that the bar, which holds the sling sailors ride in, detached from the lifting device, in what could only be described as a freak accident. It was the same lift that had safely placed Gabriel in the sailboat.
“We cancelled all sails that require use of the lift,” Nutting said.
But until the coroners service and police determine why her son died and how a similar tragedy could be prevented, Gabriel’s family maintains the association is taking a risk by continuing its program.
“If someone fell into the water again what would the plan be — where’s the flotation devices, spinal board, anything you’d need for a rescue?” asked Marcus Pollard.
On June 21 about 4 p.m,. Gabriel Pollard, who suffered from a severe form of muscular dystrophy, was in a hand-winch sling, being lifted out a Martin 16 sailboat, when the hoist transporting him fell apart. Gabriel fell on his back onto the sailboat, his head snapped back, and he slid into the water. It happened on a dock off federal land at Munroe Head used by the Canadian Forces Sailing Association, as well as the separate group, the Disabled Sailing Association. It is off Maplebank Road, adjacent to the Songhees Nation, in Esquimalt.
“For Carrie, who was there and watched it all, the staff were under-equipped and under-trained, trying to get her son out of the water for more than 10 minutes until his body temperature was about 39 degrees,” said Marcus Pollard.
“There was seemingly no plan. Once he was in the water, they were floundering and she had to call 911 and they didn’t have blankets or a plan to treat hypothermia,” said Marcus Pollard. The family’s concerns are two-fold: Did the hoist that fell apart while lifting Gabriel collapse because of a defect, wear and tear, or because of how it was maintained, stored, handled or utilized?
Why wasn’t there a spinal board or flotation device available to immobilize Gabriel’s head and spine and to get him out of the water faster?
“I’m not sure why they feel they can put someone’s life in danger like that again until they have answers,” said Marcus Pollard. “None of this is going to bring Gabe back and who knows if any of these interventions would have saved his life … I don’t know, they didn’t give him that chance.”
The B.C. Coroners Service didn’t have input into the temporary suspension of the lifts or the association’s decision to start its summer season this week as scheduled.
“It would be premature to do anything until our investigation is complete,” said spokesman Andy Watson. “If we determine there is a recommendation that can be made to prevent deaths in similar circumstances, we will do so.”
Nutting said he has been advised not to comment further until the investigation is complete.
Nutting said his thoughts are with the family and traumatized staff. Of the three instructors — ages 20 to 23 — working that day, two were summer students who had started work that week. They are all Sail Canada certified instructors trained in lifesaving and rescue skills including retrieving people from the water, Nutting said.