Liam Gratton had the trip of his life to Table Mountain Canada over the weekend, CTV News reported.
But the 12-year-old snowboarder had no plans to happen on his chairlift down the Saskatoon slopes, the station said.
What happened?
Liam told CTV that after a quick adjustment of the lift bar, he simply “slipped” the chair. His older brother Luke pointed out to the station that a security bar was removed too early.
Image source: CTV News video screenshot
Either way, Liam was able to grab the edge of the chairlift before falling, CTV reported, and was forced to continue hanging during the trip down the slope.
Image source: CTV News video screenshot
Aaron Arcand and a friend saw all this as they were going to the elevator behind Liam, the station said, “Right in front of us all of a sudden we just saw the little boy looking sideways and I think also close to the side and slipped “.
Like others witnessing the terrifying moment, all they could do was look and cheer Liam.
“We couldn’t do anything, we just had to sit there,” Arcand told CTV. “I started telling that guy to ‘just hang up, don’t let go, keep hanging man, don’t let go.’ It was intense, a sense of shock.”
Arcand also pulled out the phone and recorded the ordeal, the station said.
Here is the full clip:
Child hangs from chairlift after sliding from seat at Saskatchewan ski resort
youtu.be
Fortunately, Liam was able to stay to the top:
Image source: CTV News video screenshot
Image source: YouTube screenshot
Arcand added to CTV that once he reached the top, he also checked on Liam and congratulated him on the strength of his upper body.
So how do we tell mom?
Liam’s mother, Kaelah Gratton, told the station that her children told her about Liam’s adventure when they got home, but that she didn’t quite understand. Then he saw the clip that was already circulating quickly on social media and then understood it too well.
“I looked at it and saw it, and I got sicker and sicker thinking what would have happened if I had fallen,” he told CTV.
Image source: CTV News video screenshot
Table Mountain general manager Lawrence Blouin told the station he was relieved that Liam was holding on, “Thank God, because it could have been a very serious incident.”