August 13, 2018
It was in the spirit of adventure that Lucy Cooper took to both the sea and skies after a mid-winter accident saw her winched to safety.
The 17-year-old found herself in a bit of a spot when she slipped and dislocated her leg while hiking on Great Barrier Island, as part of an onshore activity on a Spirit of New Zealand voyage.
She was winched up and flown by the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter to North Shore Hospital on June 15.
Lucy said being in such a remote area, the paramedic had to walk up to where she was situated.
The Whangaparaoa teen was put on a stretcher and had to be winched up, but nerves kept her shaking while trying to get up to the chopper, she said.
Later X-rays showed she also had a small fracture on the kneecap. However, her 'hyper-mobile' joints, which are thought to have contributed to the accident, had ensured a fast recovery, she said.
For the past four years, the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust has conducted more than 1,000 missions a year.
In 2017, it performed 109 missions on Great Barrier Island, compared with 62 missions in 2016.
Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust spokesman Lincoln Davies said of the 50 missions to date on Great Barrier Island in 2018, only nine have involved people under 20-years-old.
He said the majority of missions are medical, usually involving older patients of 50-years-old or more, as opposed to accidents on the island.
Spirit of Adventure Trust chief executive officer Dean Lawrence said Lucy's accident "very rare", and he had never seen anything similar happen in his seven years with the trust.
All staff are trained in first-aid and have equipment aboard to deal with emergencies in the early stages, he said.
Lawrence said Lucy was more than welcome to come back and complete a full trip with the trust, as she was only five days into her 10-day trip when the accident happened.
On August 10 and 11, the Auckland Westpac Helicopter Trust also attended to two non-medical emergencies on Great Barrier Island.
One involved a male in his 20s who injured his arms in a hang glider crash, the other, a female in her 50s, who had was crushed by her ute after getting out without putting the handbrake on.
