Tuesday August 21, 2012 (Vol. ol. 37
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
N No. o. 67)
Canada’s best: White Rock Renegadess ‘95 (pictured with runnernerrrup Surrey Storm) celebrate brate a national win, for the second year in a row. see page ge 21
Former Peninsula resident was on visit from his new home in Thailand
Adventurer dies in 175-foot cliff dive Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
The Semiahmoo Peninsula is mourning the death of a 26-year-old who was killed Friday while cliff-diving north of Pemberton. Whistler Pemberton RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve LeClair confirmed Monday that an RCMP dive team recovered the body of the man in Anderson Lake around 11 a.m. Sunday. He was about 70 feet underwater.
LeClair said the man is from Surrey, but at the family’s request, police have not yet released his identity. Condolences posted to the Facebook site of the victim’s brother describe him as someone who “touched so many people’s lives.” “(He) always had a very happy spirit, and will be missed by many,” writes one friend. “Your brother did so much and will be remembered by many as a kind, fun-loving,
outgoing, adventurous guy,” writes another. The victim, an operations manager for an adventure travel company that was founded by a pair of Elgin Park Secondary graduates in 2003, had been boating with friends on Anderson Lake Friday when he climbed a cliff to jump into the water. It is estimated he jumped from a height of about 175 feet. When he did not resurface, the man’s friends dove in to look for him, then called for help.
Extensive searches by police and search-andrescue officials were unsuccessful. The victim’s Facebook page describes him as a current resident of Thailand. His bio on the tour company’s website notes he travelled extensively around the world. “I’ve camped around Australia, hitchhiked through New Zealand, surfed in Hawaii…” the victim writes. Thailand, he notes, “blew me away.”
Stranger save boy
‘Thanks to my rescuer’
Contributed photo
Dallas Smith and Lauren Sewell.
Two still in hospital
Dan Ferguson
Plane crash claims 2nd victim from Peninsula
Staff Reporter
Dan Ferguson Staff Reporter
A second fatality in last week’s plane crash near Kelowna has been identified as 24-year-old Lauren Patricia Sewell, a longtime South Surrey resident who recently moved to Vancouver. B.C.’s chief coroner announced Thursday morning that Sewell died in hospital the day after a four-seat Piper Twin Commanche crashed 30 kilometres west of Kelowna Aug. 13. She was the girlfriend of 30-yearold Jayson Dallas Wesley Smith, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Smith was a Vancouver resident who grew up in the White Rock area. see page 2
Dan Ferguson photo
Seven-year-old Carter Atkinson describes being pulled under by a strong current when he slipped and fell.
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Carter Atkinson would like to personally thank the man who saved him from drowning during a recent swimming trip to Vancouver Island. “Thank you for my life,” the seven-year-old South Surrey boy said he would say, if he gets a chance to speak to his rescuer. But neither he nor his parents know how to find the young man who dragged him from the rapids at Top Bridge Regional Park near Parksville on Aug. 11. Carter was playing in shallow water up to his knees with his older brother, Will, when he suddenly slipped and fell into deeper fastmoving water. The current dragged him under. “The water was pushing me into the rock, so I couldn’t get out,” Carter recalled. “I couldn’t breathe.” As he struggled to get his head out of the water, Carter could hear his mother’s voice yelling for help. Jennifer Atkinson was trying to get to Carter, but the current that was keeping him underwater was pushing her away. see page 4
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