Two friends and I were hiking to the Brewster Glacier in the Haast pass.  It was a long days hike through steep bush, muddy tracks and rocky, mountainous terrain around the glacier.  After one final look back at the glacier before it disappeared out of view, Tom, one of my friends, thought he saw someone slip off a rocky ledge close to the glacier. We were about 750 meters from the glacier so it was an absolute fluke that he spotted the person fall.  Tom ran back towards the hiker taking my ResQLink Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), (which I’d only purchased the month before).  My other friend and I followed a little more cautiously.

Tom realized the hiker was in serious trouble as soon as he reached him.  The hikers friend had tried to help him stand up but he was in terrible pain.  He had slipped about 3 meters off a vertical ledge and then slid along more rocks.  He activated my PLB ResQLink 400.  The injured hiker, Martin and his friend were also on a day hike and had very little in the way of extra warm clothes or food and no PLB.  We were well out of cell phone coverage.  Although he stayed calm, we could see he was cooling down lying on the rocks. We were worried he would go into shock.  He had smashed his elbow and had severe lower back pain.  We kept him warm as much as we could with an emergency blanket and extra cloths, hat etc.

Hearing the rotors of the rescue helicopter nearly two hours later was quite overwhelming. The relief washed over us as we realized the PLB had worked and help was in hand.  Even now, while writing this story, it brings back that emotion. If we hadn’t been there at that exact moment, I don’t know what would have happened.  Brewster Hut was 1 and a 1/2 hours away but there was no cell phone coverage at the hut.

The weather was starting to close in for the helicopter to fly out.  The pilot let the paramedic know they had 10 minutes to winch the injured person up and get out of the area.  It was a team to get Martin on the stretcher and carry him to a place where the helicopter could winch him up.  Martin was flown to Dunedin hospital where he had major surgery on his elbow and he was treated for a spinal fracture as well.

Martin and his friend were hugely appreciative of everyone’s efforts that day. The outcome could have been so different if we hadn’t been there at that exact moment and if I hadn’t taken my newly purchased PLB with me.