Source: Radio New Zealand
The police Eagle helicopter (file photo). RNZ / Dom Thomas
A man has been rescued close to death after clinging to a kayak in frigid water for hours off Auckland’s coast, police say.
Two men were in kayaks heading for a moored boat when they capsized in the early hours of Anzac Day in Waitematā Harbour. One of the men was swept away in the outgoing tide, but the other was able to reach the boat and called for help about 3:40am on Saturday.
“The Police Eagle helicopter crew heard the job come in and headed straight to the harbour to search around the boat club and boats moored in the channel, but with no luck,” the Marine Rescue Centre’s Senior Sergeant Garry Larsen said.
An expanded search further into the harbour found the kayaks, and the lost man was found “about a kilometre from the coast.”
“It wasn’t clear if the man was even alive, he wasn’t moving and his body heat was minimal, but thankfully there were small signs of life when they put the spotlight on him and called out over the PA.”
The Eagle helicopter crew then kept watch on him from above while they guided the police Maritime Unit to him, and he was pulled out of the water at 4:40am.
“He’s a very lucky guy, it was a cold night – about 6 degrees – and he was in the water for a very long time,” the Maritime Unit’s Sergeant Craig Kennedy said.
“When we got to him and pulled him on the boat he could barely move or talk … He was seriously hypothermic.”
The man’s life jacket had saved him, along with being found quickly on a cold night, Kennedy said.
The man who was swept away was taken to waiting paramedics at the Te Atatu Boat club, while his friend was also picked up from the boat.
“The men were taken to hospital in a serious and moderate condition,” police said.
The rescue worked because of all the different groups who had played a part to save the man’s life, and the teams should be proud, Larsen said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
