You can see how it could happen. Young Cecil (called Mickie), son of Major George Nicholson, manager of the Sooke Harbour Hotel that you see up the hill in this photo, was an adventurous 12-year-old. Young boys are notorious for finding scrapes to get into, and young Mickie was an expert.
Our photo shows the scene of the accident: Sooke River Bridge, as it was being built in 1921 to replace the earlier bridge on the right. It was a couple of years after that it happened. Mickie Nicholson was horsing around on the bridge with his buddies when he slipped and hit his head, landing in the water below.
Calls for help brought a hotel employee, who dove into the water and dragged the unconscious boy out. Fred Milne, from across the river, was next on the scene, throwing a rope to help get the boy up onto the bridge and taken to the home of the Barbour family, next door.
By then, Dr. Calvert had been alerted (think Calvert Road) and worked on the boy for about an hour till his breathing was restored, though Mickie remained unconscious, according to the Daily Colonist.
Motor vehicles were not prevalent in the district at that time, and Pete Graignic, manager at the Sooke Harbour Fishing and Packing Company, drove the boy to the Royal Jubilee Hospital, where he recovered consciousness the next day.
Meanwhile, Major Nicholson was a surgery patient at the Jubilee Hospital at the time, and so it turned out that he and his son Mickie were together recuperating at the hospital.
According to the Daily Colonist in May of 1923, the two “are progressing favourably and expect soon to be able to return home.” Apparently, there were no ill effects from the experience, as Cecil (Mickie) Nicholson went on to a multi-tasking career which included fishing and airline dispatching in Zeballos. It was his daughter, Joan Nicholson, married to well-known local helicopter pilot Bruce Payne, who shared with us the details of her dad’s story.
Elida Peers, Historian
Sooke Region Museum
