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Kelowna family identifies mountain biker who suddenly died in Penticton

Musician Leah West said she was informed of her husband’s death on June 6
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Musician Leah West posted on social media her husband passed away over the weekend. (Leah West)

A musician based in the Okanagan has identified the mountain biker who died suddenly in Penticton on June 6.

Penticton RCMP said emergency crews responded to a report of a mountain biker who had fallen off his bicycle at 11:00 a.m.

According to the police, the 58-year-old Kelowna resident was riding with a group of other cyclists about a kilometre from Riddle Road in Penticton.

Leah West posted on social media that a police officer came to her home and informed her of her husband’s death that same night.

“I am beyond devastated. My husband and best friend of 18 years and the father of my son is dead,” she wrote.

“I still don’t have a cause of death, but they think it may have been a heart attack. I haven’t been able to see him yet. I’m weeping nonstop. My son will grow up without his father.”

Police said search and rescue personnel, the Penticton Fire Department, and B.C. Emergency Health Services all attended the scene. Despite efforts to revive him, the man did not survive.

The RCMP has notified the B.C. Coroners Service, which is now investigating the incident.

No further information will be released.

READ ALSO: Sudden death of mountain biker n Penticton prompts investigation


Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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