Living to tell the tale: Woman speaks out after falling off Cape Breton cliff
The beauty of Cape Breton's coastline attracts many to the cliffs for a closer look, but that can be dangerous.
Swivel Point in Sydney Mines is no exception.
“I went to take a picture of the nice view, and it was too late – and I was gone,” says 24-year-old Taylin Kavanaugh. “It's just not worth the picture.”
It was about a year ago when Kavanaugh says she fell 60 feet – about the height of two telephone poles – to the shoreline below after the ground beneath her crumbled.
She says she wasn’t even daringly close to the edge of the cliff when it happened, but about three or four meters away.
“It was definitely a horrible experience,” said Kavanaugh. “I couldn't move lying on the beach. I didn't know if I was going to die. I didn't know what was going to happen.”
Kavanaugh is speaking out after seeing someone post a picture of erosion in Point Aconi to social media.
Today, still recovering almost a year later, she walks with a cane.
“I shattered my pelvis on the right side, I broke a couple vertebrae in my lower back, and I broke my arm and my elbow, so I was in a wheelchair for almost two months after the accident,” she says.
CBRM Councillor Gordon MacDonald says there's not much that can be done to protect people from getting too close to the cliff's edge.
“You can go all around the island and there are big cliffs everywhere,” says MacDonald. “You absolutely have to use caution and you can't put signs up everywhere.”
It's not the first time someone had to be rescued after going over the side of a Cape Breton cliff - and MacDonald fears it won't be the last.
“There is all of kinds of erosion going on around here and people have to be cautious when you get out to those cliffs that are 25 to 65 feet high,” says MacDonald. “You should use extreme caution.”
Kavanaugh says the ground along the coast can be deceiving.
“You can't see what's underneath, and how far the erosion really goes back,” says Kavanaugh. “And, what looks like solid ground sometimes isn't. It happens really quickly.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6972157.1721587842!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Joe Biden drops out of 2024 race, endorses Kamala Harris to be Democratic nominee
U.S. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for re-election after doubts were raised about his fitness for office. Soon after, he endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to take his place in the November election.
Justin Trudeau reacts to Joe Biden announcing he won't run for re-election
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the news that U.S. President Joe Biden won’t run for re-election Sunday, calling Biden a 'true friend.'
Joe Biden wants to pass the baton to Kamala Harris. Here's how that might work
With U.S. President Joe Biden ending his re-election bid and endorsing Vice-President Kamala Harris, Democrats now must navigate a shift that is unprecedented this late in an election year.
The pilot who died in crash after releasing skydivers near Niagara Falls has been identified
NEW YORK (AP) — Officials on Sunday released the name of a pilot who died in a skydiving flight after her passengers jumped from the aircraft near the Niagara Falls.
Woman found dead in the water near Sunset Beach: Vancouver police
Investigators were at Vancouver’s Sunset Beach after a woman’s body was found in the water Sunday morning, according to authorities.
Ottawa man waiting nearly a year for car to be fixed at Acura dealership
An Ottawa man says he’s been waiting nearly a year for his car to be repaired after it was damaged during a storm in August.
Canadian musicians struggle to get visas to perform in the U.S., some cancel shows
Backlogs and processing delays of temporary U.S. visas required by entertainers, athletes and artists has forced some Canadian bands to cancel U.S. tour dates because paperwork wasn't processed in time.
Joy in Newfoundland after 'Lucky 7' fishers survive harrowing days lost at sea
There was a powerful word being repeated in the joyful Newfoundland community of New-Wes-Valley on Sunday: 'Miracle.'
A Florida woman was killed 24 years ago. DNA evidence just helped police make an arrest in the cold case
A Florida woman’s brutal killing nearly 25 years ago may finally be solved after authorities arrested the suspect this week, according to the Sanford Police Department.