A Raglan man was winched to safety on Wednesday 18th after falling down a steep bank on a building site near Whale Bay.
A 47-year-old local man was working at the site when he fell down a steep bank sustaining an upper leg fracture.
Raglan Volunteer Fire Fighters and St John Ambulance staff were called to the site initially, but after seeing the steepness of the bank they called in the rescue helicopter. The only access to the man was via a rough 4WD track. As the patient was located further down, it made it difficult to reach the man and transport him, said a rescue helicopter spokesperson. The Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter was dispatched to Raglan about 3pm.
“The rescue winch on the helipcopter was used to deploy a medic and winch a stretcher down the bank to the patient.”
The man was treated and secured on a winch stretcher before being flown to Waikato Hospital for further treatment.