Friday, 05 February 2010
A RESCUE helicopter was called in to airlift an injured fisherwoman from a rocky outcrop near Whakatane on Wednesday.
Coastguard Whakatane president John Ferguson said the Tauranga-based TECT rescue helicopter was required to assist a couple who got stranded on rocks at Kohi Point, just around from the Whakatane Heads after the 30-year-old woman fell and hurt her leg.
“We couldn’t reach them with our rescue boat,” he said.
Pilot Liam Brettkelly said the Whakatane woman had fallen on rocks while fishing near Kohi Point.
“The woman, who received multiple cuts and abrasions, became stranded by the incoming tide after she fell,” he said.
Mr Brettkelly said the rescue team had used a longline to airlift her to safety.
A friend of the stricken woman said she had raised the alarm after getting a text message.
“She was there with her partner, and they texted me at 9.55am,” she said.
Ambulance officers at the scene said the attempt to get to the stricken couple by boat had failed due to heavy seas.
“It was too rough, with two-metre swells, and the boat was at least 50 metres away when it had to turn.”
The couple had been separated by a sheer drop, ending up 10 metres away from each other.
“The woman was unable to put weight on her foot, and she had been in the water.”
Exposure and the potential of dehydration were other factors that needed to be taken into account when assessing the situation.
The woman was transported to Whakatane Hospital by ambulance for treatment while her partner elected to wait for the tide to recede so he could walk out himself.