Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay man 'impaled' after taking photos near CN tracks

A 19-year-old male was impaled while taking photos with a group of friends near the CN Rail Trestle Bridge on Highway 587.

Man taken to hospital in stable condition after a large piece of wood went through his leg

Firefighters in Shuniah help take a 19 year old man out of a wooded area, where he fell and was impaled by a piece of wood. (Shuniah Fire Rescue)

A 19-year-old Thunder Bay man was injured in a bad fall that left him with a large piece of wood in his leg, after taking photos with a group of friends near the CN Rail trestle bridge on Highway 587, east of Thunder Bay.

On Wednesday around 5:30 p.m. Shuniah Fire & Emergency Services, along with the Pass Lake Fire Department, received a call after the man slipped backwards off a rock and impaled his leg on a piece of wood.

The man also hit his head, according to a fire department press release.

"We had to assist the ambulance in extricating the patient from a long path underneath the trestle," said Blair Arthur, Shuniah's fire chief.

"We just used a portable saw to cut [the piece of wood] off so that we could keep it all intact and then we packaged him up with the ambulance crew."

Paramedics stabilized the patient, who was then transported on a specialized stretcher attached to a rescue quad runner to a waiting Superior North EMS ambulance.

Arthur said the man was transported to hospital in pain but in otherwise stable condition.