September 28, 2026

A 24-year-old Canadian man has been awarded a Carnegie Medal for risking his own life to rescue an injured hang-glider pilot who was trapped on the side of a mountain.

Matthew Clark / Credit: Carnegie Foundation

Matthew Clark had already completed his own flight when he heard over the radio that 75-year-old Stephen Parson had crashed his hang glider into a tree on Mount Prevost in British Columbia's Cowichan Valley.

Parson was hanging in his harness about 200 feet below the top of the 2,585-foot mountain, and his situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

He was semiconscious and suffering from a concussion, several fractures and a serious wound to his leg. He was also beginning to experience suspension trauma, a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when someone remains suspended in a harness for too long.

Clark knew he needed to get to him.

The 24-year-old had more than four years of rock-climbing and free-soloing experience, but he had no climbing gear with him. That didn't stop him.

“I was comfortable and in my element and I went for it,” Clark said.

He climbed up the narrow, slippery gully by using his body to brace himself between the rock walls, eventually reaching Parson and cutting him out of his harness with a knife.

Clark then dragged the injured man to a safer location, treated his serious knee wound and kept him warm while they waited for rescuers.

The situation was so difficult that rescue teams initially could not reach Parson.

Fortunately, Clark was already there.

“He happened to be a rock climber fortunately and was able to very creatively find a way up to him,” said Mitch Wright, Cowichan Search and Rescue's search manager and rope rescue team leader. “He put a lot of himself at risk but was able to get to him.”

Clark stayed with Parson for about three hours until a helicopter rescue team could reach them.

A doctor was lowered from the helicopter to stabilize Parson before rescuers hoisted him out and transported him to a waiting ambulance.

Clark's quick decision to get Parson out of the harness may have prevented even more serious injuries.

“I have been told he would probably have lost his leg if I hadn’t got him out of his harness,” Clark said.

Parson spent eight days in the hospital recovering from a concussion, broken ribs, a fractured wrist and the wound to his knee. He also spent several weeks doing walking and stretching exercises to regain full use of his legs following the suspension trauma.

He eventually made a full recovery.

For putting himself in extreme danger while attempting to save another person's life, Clark was awarded a Carnegie Medal, an honor given throughout North America to people who risk their own lives to save others.