More than two months have passed since James K. Hill, Canadian ambassador to Costa Rica, suffered a severe accident in Paraíso de Manantiales in Río Cuarto when he skidded from a high slope into a riverbed and, subsequently, rocks fell on him.
The event occurred when the diplomat was participating, along with other people, in a hiking activity, a hobby that has led him to explore different parts of our country. Months ago, in January, Hill climbed to the top of Cerro Chirripó.
Due to the seriousness of the accident that occurred on June 7th, the ambassador was transferred by helicopter to the Ciudad Quesada hospital, where he underwent surgery, in which, among others, an orthopedist participated, the diplomat declared, days after returning to the country.
Once he was treated in Ciudad Quesada, he was transferred to the CIMA hospital in San José and, later, he was taken to Florida, in the midst of the Pandemic and with growing COVID-19 cases in that US state.
Hill said that his stay there, in which he was alone because of sanitary measures, allowed him to think about what happened, but also he said, about the gratitude he feels for many Ticos who helped him during that episode in Río Cuarto. He not only mentioned the people who traveled with him in the activity, but also the rescuers and health personnel at the San Carlos hospital. The Canadian representative in our country – and concurrent for Nicaragua and Honduras – did not stop repeating that his life was saved by the Costa Rican health personnel.
Back in Costa Rica -as he said in this tweet published on August 16th-, the diplomat re-assumed his responsibilities for the three countries and was 100% physically recovered. Hill has held this diplomatic post in Costa Rica since December 2017, after presenting his credentials to the then President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solís.
