12-metre Dundas Peak fall lands bicyclist in the ICU
A Hamilton man says he is lucky to be alive after a 12-metre fall from Dundas Peak sent him to the intensive care unit with two shattered vertebrae.
Bryan Campbell saw his life flash before his eyes when he slipped off an unfamiliar trail and ricocheted “like a sack of potatoes” off large boulders and jagged rocks just above Spencer Creek on June 29.
The 27-year-old, who recently moved to Hamilton from New Brunswick, was on a short bike ride with a friend, riding a trail near the peak they had never tried before.
As the trail narrowed, the pair got off their bikes and walked across it.
“The ground either gave out or I slipped, and I fell directly onto my back and snapped my head back and it collided off a large rock,” Campbell said. “I should have died.”
Campbell launched into a 12metre free fall and landed on a patch of rocks.
Campbell said had it not been for his helmet, he would’ve been dead. Had it not been for the book bag on his back, he would’ve been paralyzed. “The book bag luckily protected the top part of my spine,” he said. “But when it first happened, I thought I was a goner for sure. I thought both of my legs would be broken. I was really scared I would be paralyzed.”
With no cell service in the valley, his cycling mate — still on the path overhead — left to seek help. Campbell’s wails attracted the attention of two men who kept him company until first responders arrived.
“They kept me conscious by making conversation, made sure my limbs were functioning and toes were wiggling.”
He lay motionless for about an hour, trying to regain the feeling in his legs.
Close to 30 firefighters, police and paramedics arrived at the scene around 7:30 p.m. and performed a rope rescue.
“There were a lot of obstacles and difficult terrain they needed to navigate,” he said. “They were able to put up a long, proper and safe rope system in a very short amount of time.”
For the next eight days, Campbell was in an intensive care unit at the Hamilton General Hospital thinking how, against every odd, he walked away from the accident. He was released from hospital Wednesday. A likely months-long rehabilitation awaits him. But he can walk — albeit gingerly — and he can breathe, and that, to him, is enough to count his blessings.
“I got lucky. If I were to fall off that again, I’m sure I wouldn’t make it.”