Barbara Wilkescliff and were attempting to assist the girl. We offered blankets to try
to prevent shock and to keep her as comfortable as possible until the
paramedics arrived.
Nearly half an hour later, the paramedics had still not reached the
area, as there were no roads leading to her location. Ultimately, one
paramedic made his way through the bush to a position nearby and
called out to us. He requested we go back to a cove to pick up the
others and their equipment. He continued overland, scaling the rock-
strewn cliff walls to try to reach the girl. We picked up the other para-
medics and returned to the accident site to drop them off. The condi-
tions made it exceptionally difficult for the paramedics to maneuver
and administer care. After a few minutes, they asked to load the girl,
now fixed to a stretcher, aboard. We agreed. The stretcher was loaded
across the bow of the boat, where I sat to hold it steady.
As we slowly made our way back to the cove, where the ambulance
awaited, I held the stretcher in one hand and the girl’s hand in the
other. She appeared to be no more than eleven or twelve years of age.
She was momentarily semiconscious and cried out for her mother. I
soothed her as best I could and tried to ensure she remained calm, as I
feared any sudden movement might cause the stretcher to slide across
the fiberglass bow. At one point, she appeared to look directly at me
and cried, “Mom.” “It’s alright,” I said. “You’re ok. You’ve been in
an accident, and we’re taking you to the ambulance. It’s alright. Your
mom loves you, and she’ll be here soon.” It was all I could think of
and was what I hoped another mother would say, were my own child
in similar circumstances. Yet it was woefully inadequate, and I admit
I was relieved when she again lost consciousness. Sadly, when we ar-
rived at the cove, the paramedics pronounced her “dead on arrival.”
They nonetheless administered cpr as they transferred her from the
boat to the ambulance. Remarkably, as we prepared to pull away, we
heard them shout that they had re-established a heartbeat.
The next day the newspapers published her name. Elena had a thir-
teen-year-old twin brother who had, mercifully, not been present at the
scene of the accident. She had gone out for a walk with some friends
and their parents, but the soft moss on the edge of cliff had caused her