Langley streamkeeper Nat Cicuto is up and walking without crutches again three months after a bad fall in the Yorkson Creek ravine put him in need of rescue.

On Nov. 9, 2024, Cicuto and another volunteer with the Yorkson Watershed Enhancement Society were in the steep-sided ravine that runs through Langley's Willoughby and Walnut Grove neighbourhoods.

"We were about four and a half hours into the fish count," Cicuto recalled.

The count itself was going great.

After years of lobbying and several upgrades to the culverts that Yorkson Creek runs through, more coho than have been seen in decades were back in the creek, with an estimated 300 to 500 salmon coming up during the season.

That's a good number for a smallish creek that runs from headwaters near 78 Avenue in Langley north to the Fraser River.

Unfortunately, Cicuto took a couple of tumbles that day. On his first, he slid about 40 feet down the ravine slope, but was unharmed. 

His second fall, in which one foot went out from under him like he was slipping on a banana peel, sent Cicuto down hard on one knee.

"To the point where I couldn't stand up," he said.

The volunteer he was with got him a stick to use as a crutch, and Cicuto's son also arrived later to help. But it took him a long time to get through the creek, up the opposite bank, and then part of the way up the steep sides of the ravine. Cicuto made part of the journey on his hands and knees, and crossing the creek itself took 20 minutes.

BC Ambulance paramedics met him and took him to Langley Memorial Hospital, where he was quickly checked out.

"They couldn't get me an MRI because my leg was swole up like a watermelon," Cicuto said.

When the swelling went down, an MRI revealed he'd ruptured a full group of tendons attached to one knee. Cicuto had surgery on Nov. 26.

Despite his ordeal, he's excited about this year's fish count.

Cicuto started with the Yorkson Creek Enhancement Society when it was a relatively new organization, still just a local committee. He joined in 2000 as part of a New Year's resolution.

"I made a commitment to serve and protect this watershed," Cicuto said.

Yorkson Creek had been a small but productive salmon-bearing stream, but multiple culverts, especially where the creek ran under Highway #1, had prevented fish from getting upstream to spawn.

"We quickly identified where the fish were being obstructed in 2001-2003," he said.

They then lobbied the Township of Langley and the Ministry of Highways to change the old culverts for new ones that would allow the salmon to get to their traditional spawning grounds.

In 2004, the culvert under the highway was rebuilt.

"That was the first year we got salmon back into Willoughby," said Cicuto. It had been at least 30 years since any fish had made it south of the highway.

By 2019, three other road crossings and culverts had been fixed.

This year, Langley Township is expected to finish replacing a culvert at 80 Avenue, which will allow salmon to get as far as Yorkson Creek's headwaters, around 78 Avenue.

Cicuto noted that the old fish-unfriendly culvert under Highway #1 is still in place, serving a new role. It's now a dry passage allowing local wildlife to pass under the road without getting hit by cars.