"How does it get that bad?"
That is a question one bystander had after a rusty light pole fell over outside a Burnaby SkyTrain station this weekend, damaging a parked vehicle and landing on a woman’s leg.
The incident happened shortly after 1 p.m. on Sunday outside of the Edmonds SkyTrain station.
Robin, who did not provide her last name, told the NOW she was headed into the station with her headphones in when she noticed the pole down near the bus loop and a woman with a Pomeranian sitting by it.
"I realized she was holding her leg and was stuck," Robin said. "I think she was in shock."
Several people came over and helped lift the pole off the woman.
"If her dog had been in a slightly different spot, it would not be here with us today," Robin said.
She said her first concern after the woman was freed from the pole was to get her away from the electrical wires exposed at its rusted-out base.
The woman's leg was "swollen to high heavens," according to Robin, who called 911 with help from another bystander.
Paramedics arrived and assessed the woman but determined she didn't need to be taken to hospital, according to B.C. Emergency Health Services.
What caused the pole to fall over is unclear.
"How does it get that bad that it can just literally keel over and hit a car and a person?" Robin said. "It was so rusty?"
TransLink said it is investigating.
"Other light standards on TransLink property in the surrounding area were inspected following the incident, and no similar issues were reported," the transit authority said in an emailed statement.
Besides concerns about the TransLink infrastructure, however, Robin said she was unimpressed by the SkyTrain attendant who responded to the scene.
Until she directed him, Robin said the man made no effort to keep people away from the exposed wires at the base of the pole or to get a first-aid kit.
"I called TransLink and said, 'Hey, if you could find out who was working that day and maybe put him through another first-aid course, that would be great.'"
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
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