News
March 11, 2018
Hearing the rotor blades of the Auckland Westpac rescue helicopter coming towards him was a 'massive' relief for Jay Christiansen.
He'd spent two hours stranded on the far side of Goat Island in excruciating pain watching large waves coming towards him and thinking of his wife and unborn child.
The Whangaparāoa resident had been snorkelling around the island with friend Justin McCarthy on February 18.
A wave had sucked him back as he was getting out of the water on the far side of the island, then slammed him into rocks, dislocating his shoulder. With his arm numb and lifeless he began taking on water and McCarthy helped him from the ocean.
Christiansen initially thought he could struggle back, but was soon paralysed by pain, so McCarthy went for help.
He took 30 minutes to get back, then problems with GPS on his phone meant the emergency call centre couldn't track his location.
He had to update his phone so he could prove where he was.
All the while he feared his friend would pass out and roll into the sea, McCarthy said.
Back on the island, Christiansen was also worried.
"The waves were getting bigger and bigger and working their way up."
McCarthy arrived back, followed soon after by the rescue helicopter, and advance paramedic Chris Deacon was lowered to attend to Christiansen.
Christiansen was given pain relief and winched off the island.
He was taken to North Shore Hospital where his shoulder was put back into place and he was released a few hours later with a sling.
The sling came off this week and he now faces two months of physiotherapy to get the shoulder back to peak condition.