We recently received this story from a patient who was rescued on November 11 2023 by the West Coast ROA Mining Rescue helicopter.
Benno was visiting from Switzerland when he had a fall and the helicopter was needed to take him to hospital before the sister service, the New Zealand Flying Doctor Service, flew him to Christchurch for surgery. The story below is written in Benno’s words.
On November 11, 2023, my wife and I were planning to visit the Franz Josef Glacier. My wife joined a guided hiking group that visited the glacier from the observation platform. I decided to hike up to the glacier myself along the Roberts Point Track. I was aware that this track was only recommended for experienced hikers. As I often do high alpine walks in the Swiss mountains, I didn’t see any problem for me.
This track is really well marked and beautiful; Once you reach the viewpoint at the top, you have a wonderful view of the glacier.
I was soon on my way back, as we wanted to continue our journey to Hokitika that same day. I set off on the descent at a brisk pace. That was probably my mistake. I was aware that the stones and rocks were wet and slippery. And then, it happened, the fall: This part of the trail was close to the edge of a rock, which was around 4 meters high where I had fallen down. I only have fragmentary memories of the fall itself and what happened afterwards.
My rescuers, who found me injured, looked after me. They are: Ayla and Thom from the Netherlands and Emily and Trey from the USA. We are still in contact, and they told me afterwards that there were some deep cuts on my face and I was bleeding quite bad. They washed down my face with some clean water and they used some stitch plasters to try and stop the bleed. They checked the rest of my body and saw primarily cuts and blood, but couldn’t see any other injuries, but they noticed that I had a lot of pain in my chest.
The rescuers helped me to get to the “Hendes Hut” where they called the emergency services. It took 90 minutes for the chopper to arrive. When the chopper arrived, a paramedic, Justin, came down to check up and to stabilize me. I was rescued from the rough terrain by helicopter using a winch and then flown to Greymouth Regional Hospital.
An initial examination showed that I had broken seven ribs several times. They had to be fixed with titanium plates in an operation. Greymouth Hospital was unable to perform this operation. So I was flown by New Zealand Flying Doctor to Christchurch, where I was operated on. After five days in hospital, I was discharged, happy and grateful that everything came out so well.
I have written this report in order to process the accident and out of great gratitude to everyone who contributed to my rescue: Thom & Ayla and Emily & Trey who rescued me, West Coast Air Rescue: Darryl Sherwin (pilot), Justin Venables (doctor), Matt Jeffery (crewman), Rachael Mc Nutt (Trust) and the two hospitals in Greymouth and Christchurch.
I would also like to thank all those who have suffered with me and worried about me. I am thinking above all of my family and closest friends.
