BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – POLICE on St. Kitts had taken a young male Canadian for medical treatment after he was injured during a hike on Mount Liamuiga.
According to a press release, at about 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 20), police received a report that someone was lost at Mount Liamuiga.
Immediately, a search and rescue team was launched by members of the Police Force, the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force, the St. Kitts-Nevis Fire and Rescue Service, and the Emergency Medical Service.
The team was in search of 21-year-old Jayme Houle of Canada, who had gone hiking alone and reportedly injured after falling down the mountain side.
The search was unsuccessful. However, on the following day, Houle was spotted in the Newton Ground area and was first taken to the Pogson Medical Centre by police officers.
According to the police release, up to Thursday evening he was receiving medical attention at the JNF Hospital.
This is the third incident on Mount Liamuiga within six months that involved visitors to the Federation.
On Tuesday (Jun. 4), the motionless body of US citizen James Beattie was found along the hiking trail that leads to Mount Liamuiga by members of a search and rescue team.
According to a press release, police had received a report that two persons who were staying near the White Gate area had gotten lost while on a hike to Mount Liamuiga.
In response, a team comprising members of the Police and Defence Forces as well as the Fire and Rescue Services went in search of the missing persons.
It stated that investigations revealed that “James Beattie of the USA and Emily Goodyear of England went on a hike on Tuesday afternoon at about 4:00 p.m. Beattie fell ill and Goodyear left to get help and lost her way.
“The search team found Goodyear who then guided them in the direction of Beattie. He was found lying motionless along the hiking trail.”
The District Medical Officer was summoned to the scene and, on examination of the body, pronounced Beattie dead.
A post mortem examination later determined that death was due to decompensated chronic cor pulmonale multi-focal bilateral bronchopneumonia and chronic obstruction pulmonary disease.
And in July, while honeymooning in St. Kitts, Clay Chastain and his wife Acaimie of Indianapolis, Indiana went hiking atop the 3,700 foot-high Mount Liamuiga.
Chastain reportedly fell for some 50 feet into a crater and was rescued by his wife.
He had suffered a fractured skull, cracked vertebrae and had temporarily lost hearing in his right ear during the fall.
Reportedly, he was saved from potentially fatal injuries because the lush plant life, which has grown inside the crater during its centuries of inactivity, broke his fall.
