This rescue occurred whilst on the Timber Trail section of Te Araroa, which I am solo section hiking this year.

Whilst having a lunch break, I could hear cyclists coming through an obviously challenging section just across the valley. A couple of minutes after hearing them through this section, they would bike past me.

After listening to this for a while, I heard a group come around the same section, but this time there was a really knarly skid, followed by a low pitched thud, a shriek and then silence.

No one came biking past. 

I quickly armed myself with my ACR PLB, my first aid kit, and my 2 way satellite communication device, and headed up the track. There I found a group of cyclists, one of whom had come off his bike.

He was in a great deal of pain and extremely confused. The group decided that we should set off my PLB as he was certainly not going to get out of there without help. 

The Westpac Helicopter arrived in about an hour and Kerry was evacuated to Waikato Hospital where he could undergo the necessary neurological testing. The paramedics on site were amazing and confirmed that we definitely did the right thing by activating the PLB.