To the rescue

As a paramedic working on the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, Stefan Gabor has some cracking tales of daring rescues undertaken in perilous conditions.

One summer’s afternoon, a distress call came in from the middle of Auckland’s mighty Waitakere Ranges. The chopper took to the sky and within minutes Stefan was stepping off the helicopter’s safety skids and winching himself 45m into the heart of a deep valley to get to the patient.

“Right after I left the helicopter I got a spin going,” Stefan says. “I was spinning most of the way down. I started to get worried, but then the spinning stopped… because I’d hit a ponga tree.

“So I’m a bit bruised up but I land myself on the rock, which is in the middle of a creek, relatively unharmed. The first thing you do when you land is unhook from the cable because it’s very unsafe to stay connected to the chopper. But I was so dizzy I knew that as soon as I stood up I would fall off the rock and straight into the water. Then I’d need to be rescued! So I grabbed the rock, took a minute to compose myself and then tried not to fall over while I got unhooked.”

We’re told that after the dramatic rescue, the hiker made a full recovery from her broken ankle.

Stefan is fond of this story. Not only because it’s funny but because it also demonstrates how it’s not always the most dramatic injuries that make for the best tales.

“It’s not always the adrenaline-filled jobs that are the most satisfying. It’s any job where we’ve made a difference,” he says. “When people are in trouble and we’ve brought them back to their families, that makes it all worthwhile. That’s an awesome feeling.”

He says that summer is the busiest time for the rescue team. “People are out there enjoying our playground. They’re sailing and getting into trouble; they’re hiking and falling over. They’re having fun, but they’re also, unfortunately, hurting themselves or getting lost. It’s one of those things. And that’s why we’re here.”