11-year-old nearly strangled by rope swingJohn French
Chief Staff Writer
A child's rope swing turned from being fun to almost deadly over the Easter long weekend - but a fast response by emergency personnel saved a life.
An 11-year-old boy was playing with a friend Sunday afternoon on a rope swing hanging from a tree on Ayr Drive in the Garibaldi Highlands. According to Cpl. Dave Ritchie of the Squamish RCMP, one of the boys became entangled in the swing and his friend ran for help when the victim started to convulse from being caught in the rope.
"The friend called to his sister and the sister called 911 while the boy got a nurse who happened to be a neighbour," Ritchie said.
The neighbour with nurse training started first aid on the boy and Ritchie said that included cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
The call to 911 was placed at 3:09 p.m. Const. Troy Goddard arrived on the scene and helped the neighbour with the first aid efforts.
Const. John Marinis and Cpl. Mike Byrne joined Goddard.
When a B.C. Ambulance arrived, two paramedics took over the administration of CPR. The young victim was loaded into the ambulance. The paramedics attended to the boy while Goddard drove the ambulance with Marinis providing police escort.
The ambulance went to Squamish General Hospital where an air ambulance was used to transfer the boy to Children's Hospital in Vancouver.
The family of the young victim was too distraught to talk to The Chief.
Ritchie said the boy's condition improved after he was treated in hospital. According to the Ritchie, the hospital reported that the boy was in stable condition after one day in the hospital.
