Hiker Survives 60-Foot Fall While Rescuing Dog on Tricouni Peak in British Columbia
- Victor Nwoko
- Sep 4
- 2 min read
A hiker in British Columbia survived a 60-foot plunge onto jagged rocks after trying to save her dog from sliding down a steep mountainside — and both she and her pet miraculously lived to tell the story.
Margaux Cohen, 36, was hiking Tricouni Peak with her pit bull mix, Zion, and two friends on August 24 when the group strayed from the main trail and encountered a wall blocking their return path. As they attempted to climb over, Zion lost his footing and began slipping down the mountain. Acting on instinct, Cohen grabbed his harness.
“I had this instinct to just grab his harness,” Cohen recalled from her hospital bed in North Vancouver. “But I did not realize that by doing this, and because of his weight, I was just going to fall. It wasn’t a straight fall. I tumbled down like four times. So I probably fell 20 feet, and then hit my face on the rocks, and then fell again and again and again.”
Cohen remained conscious throughout the ordeal but quickly realized the severity of her injuries. “When it stopped, I looked down at my right leg and realized it was not in the right shape,” she said. “I screamed in agony.”
Her cries alerted her friends, who immediately called for help. To her relief, Zion survived with only an injured paw and sat beside her wagging his tail. “My dog was like, sitting next to me, just wagging his tail, like nothing happened. Like he just had the time of his life,” she said.
Search-and-rescue crews arrived in blistering heat and airlifted both Cohen and her dog after a two-hour rescue operation. Cohen is now recovering in the hospital with a broken leg, having already undergone one surgery and awaiting another.
Grateful for her survival, her friends, and the rescue team, Cohen said: “I just believe that someone was watching over me that day.”
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