Latest news with #OtagoSouthlandRescueHelicopter
Otago Daily Times
28-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Network Waitaki gives $121,476 to 52 groups
Network Waitaki chief executive officer Dylan Andrews was on deck to present more than $120,000 in donations to community groups in the district at their annual sponsorship awards night on Monday. PHOTO: NIC DUFF Network Waitaki has dished out more than $120,000 to community groups in the district. The Oamaru-based lines company held its annual sponsorship awards night at the Oamaru Opera House on Monday, giving away a total of $121,476 to 52 groups. Network Waitaki chief executive Dylan Andrews said the selection process was as difficult as ever due to "so many worthy initiatives". "More often than not, our sponsorship grant is a significant contribution towards the cost to buy new equipment, help pay for a tournament or improve the wellbeing of people in the community. "Every bit helps make Waitaki a better place to live and play." In addition to the sponsorship awards, Network Waitaki is also a continued sponsor of the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter and the new Network Waitaki Events Centre. Applications for Network Waitaki's Individual Sporting Programme are open until September 30 and can be made through its website. Individuals can apply for financial support for personal participation, either locally or at representative level, or for skills development in a chosen field such as music, arts or sport. — APL
Otago Daily Times
06-06-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Charges brought against skipper of fishing boat
Fishing vessel Tamahine rocks in the waves at Taiaroa Head, at the tip of Otago Peninsula. It broke up on the rocks, and now its skipper has been charged in relation to its sinking. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery The skipper of a boat that broke up on the rocks below Dunedin's albatross centre a year ago is facing two charges. A Maritime New Zealand spokesman said yesterday the government agency had completed its investigation into the June 2024 grounding and sinking of the commercial fishing vessel Tamahine at Taiaroa Heads. "We have filed two charges under the Maritime Transport Act 1994 (s65 and s71) against one person as a result of the investigation." The charges — a failure to comply with duties in relation to maritime activity and dangerous activity involving ships or maritime products — could result in hefty fines or even imprisonment. A Ministry of Justice staff member said the skipper, Teone Taiaroa, would next appear in court on July 3. Mr Taiaroa and a crew member were airlifted to safety in what was described at the time as a textbook rescue. He was winched to safety after the 14m Tamahine ran aground and was rocking in the swell below the Royal Albatross Centre on Otago Peninsula about 6.45am on June 4 last year. The coastguard and nearby fishing vessels were already on the scene when the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter team arrived to winch down two Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue rescue swimmers. The first rescue swimmer went to Mr Taiaroa, who had remained aboard the boat as it was becoming overwhelmed by waves. The second rescuer went to the crew member who had become stranded on nearby rocks. The rescuer established the crew member was safe and returned to the boat to assist. The two rescuers moved the skipper off the boat before he and one of the rescuers were winched up to safety. Mr Taiaroa was taken to Dunedin Hospital in a moderate condition, and the crew member was assessed and treated at the scene. A Givealittle page set up in the days following the incident noted Mr Taiaroa came from a family with a long history on the peninsula and that was "very well respected" in the community. The boat was launched in 1960, it said.
Otago Daily Times
08-05-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Rescue chopper has special place in one rider's heart
Southland's Bruce Winter, whose wife and son have both needed to use the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter following heart attacks, is pictured before today's Chopper Bike Ride, an annual fundraiser for Lakes District Air Rescue Trust (LDART). He is with (from left) Gemma and Richie McCaw, LDART chairman Jules Tapper, broadcaster Paddy Gower and Westpac NZ Otago Southland regional manager Phil Taylor. PHOTO: TRACEY ROXBURGH You can bet Southlander Bruce Winter's wife and eldest son will not be too far from his thoughts during a gruelling 230km bike ride today. Mr Winter, 69, is one of about 100 cyclists — including at least four former Olympians — taking part in this year's Chopper Bike Ride from Queenstown to Invercargill, a fundraiser for the annual Westpac Chopper Appeal. The riders are aiming to raise a record $150,000 for the Lakes District Air Rescue Trust to support the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter Service, which last year flew 2097 missions. Mr Winter, who was a road cyclist for 10 years and a keen mountain biker, said this would be his sixth edition of the Chopper Bike Ride, an event to which he had previously donated but began participating in after his wife, Catherine, needed the rescue helicopter in 2016. Sheep farming at the time at Spar Bush, Mrs Winter, then aged 54, had spent a morning winding up electric fences. By 3pm that afternoon she complained of a sore arm, believing she had pulled a muscle. "She was actually starting to have a heart attack then," he said. Unaware, Mr Winter headed out again and returned home just before 6pm and immediately knew "something wasn't right". She was taken by ambulance to Southland Hospital — a rescue helicopter happened to be there, having been brought in for another patient. "But Catherine took precedence, so they flew her to Dunedin ... it's only a 48-minute flight from Invercargill to the top of Dunedin Hospital. She landed on the roof, they took her down and [put a stent in] straight away." Then last July, their son Andrew, then aged 36, also needed a life-saving flight to Dunedin after he confused a heart attack for pneumonia. The Cromwell-based diesel mechanic thought about driving to Clyde Hospital, but his boss encouraged him to go to the medical centre instead. "So he rang the medical centre and they sent an ambulance." After a couple of hours in Clyde, the call was made to the rescue helicopter, which had to land south of Alexandra due to an inversion layer. By the time his parents got to Dunedin, Andrew had a stent inserted and was "good as gold". Now living near Forest Hill, Mr Winter said one of the helicopter flight paths from Queenstown passed directly overhead. Noting the regularity with which that happened, he said he was acutely aware of the service's importance. Riders in today's event include former All Blacks captain and Westpac NZ ambassador Richie McCaw, 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning rower Nathan Cohen, Black Sticks great Gemma McCaw and her former team-mate, Diana Te Awa, Paralympic tandem sighted pilot Laura Thompson, former Olympic cyclist Glenn McLeay and broadcaster Paddy Gower. While they would spend 12 hours in the saddle, stopping at local schools along the route, a smaller group of riders including Westpac NZ institutional and business banking managing director Reuben Tucker, have taken the fundraising to a new level — riding 800km from Nelson to join the start of the Chopper Bike Ride in Queenstown. By last night, just over $75,000 had been donated through the Westpac Chopper Appeal Givealittle page.
