Busy weekend for rescue helicopter
A 38-year-old woman was winched from the Kaiteriteri mountain bike park after falling over her handle bars whilst riding.
An intensive care paramedic stabilised the woman before she was flown to Nelson Hospital with head injuries.
The rescue was one of three winch missions that the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter attended yesterday.
In total, the helicopter went on 12 rescue missions over the first two days of Labour Weekend, ranging from medical evacuations to mountain bike accidents.
A Blenheim woman injured her ankle while walking in steep terrain inland from Ward near Isolated Hill.
A paramedic was winched down to stabilise her, and the rescue helicopter then flew her to Wairau Hospital.
The third winch mission involved a Wangapeka man in his 40s, who slipped while pig hunting in steep terrain near Tapawera and fell about nine metres into a ravine.
The man was located by the helicopter in very slippery terrain and a medic was winched down to him, before flying him to Nelson hospital with back injuries.
Meanwhile, two people have escaped unharmed from a truck which plunged into the Waimea River in Appleby on Saturday afternoon.
Police were called to the scene around 5.17pm to find the two occupants safely on the river bank.
Police said today they were unable to provide more details, or how the truck came to be stuck in the river.