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Rider taken to hospital after Campbell River motocross crash

First responders debated using helicopter, but terrain proved challenging
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A fellow rider returns the damaged bike to the pit area. Photo by Marc Kitteringham/Campbell River Mirror

Motocross racing took an unfortunate turn on Sunday as one of the riders crashed, requiring a response from ambulance, Campbell River Fire Department and the RCMP.

At around 2 p.m., a rider crashed after hitting a jump while on the course. The rider’s bike was seen flipping through the air, and immediately members of the crowd ran towards the crash site. The race was shut down, and on-site first aid responders attended to the man. Emergency services were called, and arrived on scene at around 2:30 p.m.

“Anytime EHS comes out here they tap us out to help just in case they need more man power, which in this case they did,” said Capt. Bruce Holbrook of the Campbell River Fire Department.

Crews originally were going to request a helicopter to remove the man, but due to the terrain of the course there was no safe place for the helicopter to land. The man was instead taken by ambulance to the Campbell River airport, where the helicopter would be waiting.

“Normally, we would set up the landing zone for the helicopter after we deal with them and where they want to go. In this case it’s the airport,” Holbrook said. “Usually we work with RCMP to try and figure the safest landing zone, but when you look at the terrain and stuff here and the sand it’s a bit of a challenge.”

The terrain also made extracting the man from the crash site to a safer area for the ambulance a challenge.

“We did have to pack him out a little bit to where we could actually drive into with the ambulance.”

While on scene the determination was that the man would be airlifted, Holbrook said that could change en route to the airport.

“Hopefully it’s only a few broken bones and he’ll be back racing in no time.”

More photos and video from the Campbell River Motocross Event will be available on the Mirror website soon.

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marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com

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An ambulance takes the injured rider off the track at the Campbell River Motocross Track on Sunday. Photo by Marc Kitteringham/Campbell River Mirror
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Campbell River Fire Department provided support to the ambulance crew at the site. Photo by Marc Kitteringham/Campbell River Mirror