It is rare to hear of jogging or hiking misadventures but for two incidents to occur within an hour of each other and in the same area is almost unheard of.
Such was the case at Bukit Kiara on Wednesday when one man died and another was luckier, getting away with an injury to his forehead.
It was also an unbelievable moment for Canadian Barry Dawe who ended up helping both victims although it was sadly in vain for one of them.
Dawe, 67, had been hiking in the area since 3.30pm that day and was about to leave at 5pm when he came across a man who had injured his head after falling just a couple of minutes earlier.
He said the victim in his 40s, who he identified as Sen, seemed to have suffered a concussion.
“I helped get Sen out of the jungle with the help of other hikers and headed to my car to clean up.
“It was about 6pm when a woman came running to my car and asked for help as her partner had collapsed.
“I found it hard to believe because it was two incidents in a day when even one is rare. I realised it was real when I saw the panic in the woman’s eyes,” Dawe said.
The woman told him her partner was “inside a long way”.
She said she was familiar with the trail but it was the victim’s first time there.
“She told me they were going downhill and when she reached the bottom, he was not behind her. She went back and found him on the ground. He was not responding and she could not move him and decided to seek help,” Dawe said.
It was raining by this time. Dawe, who is familiar with the area, made his way to the first of three trails where he saw a friend who he identified as Peter.
“I asked Peter if he was the one who collapsed but he instead pointed to the victim who was about 50 metres below from the ridge trail. It struck me then that I had encountered the victim and his woman partner an hour earlier,” Dawe said.
He said the victim was face down on the ground and was not responsive.
“Peter and I sat him up straight and put him up against a tree. We decided to get help to bring the victim out as it was nearly 3km to the main gate and he had a big built.
“His (the victim’s) shirt and shorts were torn, most likely because they were snagged by a tree or branch. I guess he lost his footing and fell.
“We saw several others who said they had called the Fire and Rescue Department,” Dawe added.
A spokesman from the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department Operation Centre said a team of 15 rushed to the scene upon being alerted at 6.37pm.
“The victim, a local in his 30s, was unconscious. He was brought out on a stretcher but pronounced dead by the medical team on site,” the spokesman said.
Dawe told Twentytwo13 that he received an email yesterday from Sen who told him he was recovering although he had four stitches on his forehead.
Dawe said the two incidents showed that people need to exercise care even if they are experienced.
Twentytwo13 understands more people have been hiking in the northern part of Bukit Kiara with the trailhead at Kiaramas Ayuria Condominium during the Conditional Movement Control Order period as Taman Persekutuan Bukit Kiara is still off limits.
