Man who plummeted off a cliff thanks his Hamilton rescuers

The last time Corey Dixon and Const. Michael McLellan saw each other, they were at the bottom of a gorge late at night, and Dixon was dying.

I remember feeling air around me.- Corey Dixon, of falling off a cliff

The 21-year-old had descended the steps at Albion Falls with his friends. He hit some ice and slipped, darting in luge formation through trees and bushes, and dropped nine metres to the rocks below.

McLellan was the first Hamilton Police Service officer on scene. When he got there, Dixon was semi conscious but unaware, mumbling the same sentences over and over. He had major brain trauma. He was bleeding internally.

McLellan is a former military medic. He somehow reached Dixon and held his head until emergency crews arrived. He fished Dixon's cell phone out of the cold water. He shielded him as rocks and ice rained down on them.

Dixon met McLellan and others on Sunday, when he and his parents arranged a thank-you meet-up at the Hamilton Police Service Mountain station. Police officers, paramedics and fire fighters were there.

At the meeting, Dixon pieced details together. His few memories flooded back. He cried. His parents cried. Some of the emergency workers cried. His mom handed out cookies. And at long last, he and McLellan shared a hug.

Everyone was crying tears of joy.- Corey Dixon

"It was an emotional morning, for sure," said Dixon, who turns 22 on Monday. "Everyone was crying tears of joy."

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The Dixon event was a moment of joy in a year filled with emotional rope rescues.

So far, there have been about 23 rescues of people who have fallen at Hamilton's storied waterfalls. That's the highest level in 10 years, and it's only October. It's happening so often this year, in fact, that emergency officials are looking at charging user fees for them.

Dixon's rescue was late at night, but many happen during the day. That includes a 22-year-old woman who fell at Chedoke Falls at 2 p.m. on a Friday and suffered minor head abrasions and possible wrist and rib fractures. Some weren't so lucky. A man in his 50s who fell in front of his family in July at Albion Falls, died at the same falls where Dixon survived. 

Dixon's fall happened just after midnight on Feb. 27. He and some friends descended a staircase to look at Albion Falls. They realized too late that the ground was icy, Dixon said. When he tried to retreat, he slipped.

First, he slid about six metres to the end of a path, then off that cliff to fall another nine.

"I remember feeling air around me," Dixon said. His next conscious moment was in ICU as medical staff removed his breathing tubes.

He'd hit the ground so hard that his body had left an impression in the ice.

That's one of the most enjoyable times I've had at work.- Det. Const. Kevin Heyink

Dixon knows now how much each moment mattered. He knows how much was required of the more than 30 emergency workers to rescue him, and how close his call was.

That's why he arranged the meeting Sunday. He still struggles with migraines and memory loss. His left arm will never extend again. He has severe nerve damage in his back and his left hand. But he's alive.

"If it wasn't for them, I definitely would not be here today," he said.

"I would have bled to death. I would have died. I technically should have died on the cliff … There are no words to describe how thankful I am."

The thanks are always nice, said Det. Const. Kevin Heyink, who attended Sunday's meeting.

"I've been a police officer for 10 years, and that's one of the most enjoyable times I've had at work," Heyink said.

We've been on an emotional roller coaster.- Brian Dixon

As for what happens next, Dixon said he continues the struggle to recover. He's become a vocal advocate for improving safety around Hamilton waterfalls. He wants people to know he wasn't a daredevil.

For the last eight months, "we've been on an emotional roller coaster," said Brian Dixon, Corey's dad.

Sunday was "like finishing off another part of the healing Corey needs to do in facing what happened."

As for McLellan, Corey Dixon said, "I gave him a thank-you hug.

"You could see from the look in his eyes that he was kind of emotional himself."