My partner and I were walking the Routeburn having a fantastic time. On our previous trips we had hired a ResQLink PLB, but for this trip we (foolishly) decided it wouldn’t be necessary as the Routeburn is a busy and popular walk and not particularly technical. 3km from the end of the track on a very easy and gentle decline towards the divide I stood awkwardly on a rock and twisted my ankle, heard it crack, and fell over.

We took my shoe off and it had already swelled up. I couldn’t put any weight into it and it was incredibly painful. Initially our plan was for my partner to walk down to the divide and get help, but after 10 minutes or so a lovely couple stopped to help, Dominique and Grant. They gave me some pain relief and asked what our plan was. We discussed what was best and if there was no help by the end of the track what would we do then?

I was pretty scared and worried about how to get off the track as my ankle was so sore. Grant and Dominique made the decision to set off their ResQLink PLB which I am incredibly grateful for. After a while a doc worker arrived to help the helicopter come and retrieve us.
Turns out my ankle was broken and required surgery to be fixed, and in hindsight there’s no way I would have gotten off the hill without Grant and Dominique’s help! I’m so appreciative of their help and the moral of the story is to always carry a PLB – you never know when you might need it, even on a flat part of a busy track!