Patrice Crawford isn’t used to arriving at work via helicopter but that’s exactly what happened after a run in Christchurch’s Port Hills took a nasty turn.
It was a Saturday in October 2025 and Patrice, who is a sonographer at Christchurch Hospital, planned to run 28km. Along with friends, she was training for the 50 km Tarawera Ultra-Trail run. They had run up Rapaki and were coming down the Mt Vernon Farm Track.
“We were running down the steepest part of the track so I was being pretty careful. But as I came through a rocky area I felt my knee give out and I heard a bit of a snap. Then I hit the ground,” Patrice says.
Patrice knew it was bad.
“My first thought was that I’m not going to be able to get out of here, I’ll need a helicopter and they’re going to have to winch me out.”
Patrice’s friend, Sue, who was running ahead of her, also heard the snap.
“Sue started saying ‘could you just…’ but I stopped her and said, ‘I can’t just anything Sue!’”
Emergency services were called and Sue continued down the track to meet Hato Hone St John. Another runner stopped and stayed with Patrice until help arrived.
“By the time the ambulance crew got to me they were puffing – there was no way they could stretcher me out of there. They made me comfortable, got my GPS location, and made some phone calls.”
The next thing, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter arrived and Critical Care Paramedic Juliet Fitzpatrick was winched down to Patrice.
Patrice has watched Mt Hutt Rescue and First Responders on TV and says she always thought going up in the winch must be the worst thing.
“I’m a little afraid of heights but having Juliet talk me through the winch made the world of difference – she helped me feel calm. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be and Juliet was with me, so I felt quite safe.”
Once Patrice and Juliet were safely inside the helicopter, it flew and landed on the side of Mt Vernon. Juliet could then properly assess Patrice’s injury and prepare her for the short trip to Christchurch Hospital.
“The rescue helicopter crew made me very comfortable and took away any sense of being afraid. They totally put me at ease.”
Patrice required surgery to repair a tibial plateau fracture, which is a break in the top part of the tibia bone, just below the knee joint. She was in Christchurch Hospital for five days. Juliet and the rescue helicopter crew even came back to see her.
“After I was settled in to hospital they popped in to see how I was going and ask about my injury. That was so sweet of them!”
Patrice is not back running yet but is working hard in the gym and with a physio. She hopes to complete a 10 km race at the end of June.
“Living in Christchurch, I never expected I would need to be picked up by the rescue helicopter – especially not from the Port Hills. But the terrain left no other option.
“I’m super grateful to the rescue helicopter service for being there for me. As a result, I have become a regular donor to the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust. It’s the least I can do to give back to the service that rescued me.”
