Photo: Glacier Media

Metro Vancouver Transit Police say a man is "lucky to be alive" aver falling "several storeys" into a ravine off of what appeared to be a wall from a demolished building.

The incident happened near Gateway SkyTrain Station in Surrey about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Officers found the injured man moaning in pain at the bottom of the embankment.

Sgt. Clint Hampton said "it appears he was attempting to complete a large graffiti mural on what appeared to be a wall from a demolished building."

There was also a great deal of reinforcement steel sticking out along the side of the building. A woman in the area commented the man was lucky that he didn't land on the metal.

Fire rescue teams were able to assist the man up a ladder at a lower part of the ravine and handed him over to paramedics.

"Officers were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to be in a position to help this man," said Hampton.

"Hopefully, this was a hard lesson learned and he’ll turn his attention to new, legal and safer hobbies."