Chloe Howe and her boyfriend were dirt biking in West Kelowna when she accidentally fell and found her self in a scary situation.
The 26-year-old from England broke her tibia and fibula and needed to be rescued off Bear Creek Provincial Park on Saturday.
“It was kind of terrifying, honestly I don’t know what I would have done without them,” she said.
Now, she wants to say thank you to the people who saved her life.
Things went wrong at about 1:30 p.m. when Howe was coming down one of the trails
“There was loose gravel and I just grabbed too much front brake, lost the front end and the way I landed… it broke my leg instantly,” she recalls.
Her boyfriend rushed over and said her leg was facing the wrong way and he picked the bike up and it “popped around.”
Luckily, they had cell reception and were able to call for help, but it would take almost an hour for Central Okanagan Search and Rescue to locate her.
Once they found her, she was in excruciating pain and they worked to bring her through the trails to an ambulance.
“They put me in this soft bag and put me in a trail rider, I don’t know how I would have got down any other way,” said Howe. “I was so uncomfortable, I was terrified.”
Howe said she can’t thank everyone involved enough and it is thanks to them she is in a hospital and not still up on the trail.
She remains in hospital, awaiting surgery and says the accident has brought her closer to her boyfriend.
“He has had the exact same injury… it was on the right leg,” she said with a laugh. “Most people have matching rings or T-shirts, but no, we have matching injuries and hardware in our legs.”
- Alanna Kelly, Castanet
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