Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 09/05) - Bob Kussy's typical Sunday afternoon working in his art studio turned into a rescue mission of two young tobogganers last weekend.

Kussy and neighbour Pablo Saravanja saw two seven-year- olds speeding down the hill behind Pilot's Monument in Old Town and land in a bloodied heap on the rock.

The young boys had tried sliding down the backside of the treacherous and rocky hill.

"Those kids must have been doing 40-50 km/h once they got going," says Kussy.

He scaled the rock to find one boy's face "purple with blood."

His forehead was cut open from temple to temple, says Kussy.

The other boy fared slightly better, cutting up his face on the rock. Both were in shock and the second boy was screaming, says Kussy.

An ambulance and three attendants arrived within 10 minutes. The mother of one boy had already taken him to Stanton Territorial Hospital by car.

"Parents should heed this accident as kind of a heads up," says Chucker Dewar, deputy fire chief.

The fire department attends to approximately eight to 10 sliding accidents each year, and warn parents to only let their kids toboggan at approved locations.

Dewar recommends a helmet and winter clothes and that kids go down gradual slopes. Pilot's Monument is not one of them.

Kussy, whose art studio opens onto the backside of the hill, doesn't want to see kids sliding there again.

"This is not a place to toboggan. We walk this all the time and when it's moist, it's treacherous," he says.

Both boys are at home recovering from their injuries.