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SKI HILL TRAGEDY
Teen killed in fall from Cypress Mountain chairlift
nsnews.com/newsletter
NEW YEAR’S BABY
BRENT RICHTER
brichter@nsnews.com
The teen who died in a fall from a Cypress Mountain chairlift last week was in medical distress and had lost consciousness immediately before the incident, West Vancouver police say.
The fall happened just before 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 15, near the top of the resort’s Sky Chair where it is about a 50-foot drop to the ski run below. The 18-year-old Maple Ridge resident was with a family member and friends at the time. He was pronounced dead at the scene, but not before a valiant effort by both volunteer and professional first responders. “It was such a profoundly tragic event that this young man’s life was cut so short at an early age. We’re really feeling for [his family],” said Suzanne Birch, West Vancouver Police Department spokesperson. Mark Kascha, a first aid instructor of more than 25 years and one of the first bystanders to step in following the teen’s fall, said he was struck by the compassion and teamwork demonstrated by total strangers. “As more and more volunteers came in, we had doctors, we had nurses, a firefighter came in, and it was this huge outpouring of volunteers,” he said. “That was that one little bit of heartwarming out of all this. You read all Continued on A6
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