Caving doc is a hole lot of hero
Lifesaver reveals the perils of underground rescues. Stu Hunt reports.
THE term most of us use to describe a lucky escape is dodging a bullet. For Motueka GP Mike Brewer, it was dodging a rock the size of a small fridge.
He didn’t dodge it entirely, the rock hit him and in turn caused him to fall two metres, break a pelvis and crack a few ribs in the Greenlink Cave System, near Harwoods Hole, in 2007.
‘‘The rock had adequate mass to destroy me,’’ he says in typically understated fashion.
‘‘I find it hard to understand how more damage wasn’t done.’’
Brewer refused to let the accident put him off caving. ‘‘My wife puts it down to my lack of imagination.’’
Brewer’s descents into the 183m deep Harwoods Hole, 33kms north of Motueka, haven’t only been recreational.
He’s also been involved in many rescue missions in New Zealand’s deepest vertical shaft over the years, most recently last month when he helped save the life of a 25-year-old Canadian woman who fell while abseiling.
Brewer was the attending doctor and one of two people to descend down to tend to the victim while a team assembled the rig to pull them out.
‘‘Even though we don’t get to do it very often we tend to know each other and we do practice so I can focus on the medical issues while above me the others are going to be organising the rigging and the roping.’’
Once Brewer had made her comfortable he secured himself to the stretcher for the ascent – the scariest part.
‘‘I like being in more control of my ascent. You’re totally dependent on people above you having set things up properly.
‘‘Other than keeping the injured person comfy, I just had to keep the stretcher off the rock face for the last 30 or 40 metres.’’
As an experienced caver and a GP, 57-year-old Brewer was always going to be in demand in rescue situations.
‘‘I’m by no means an expert caver and I’m not an expert medical person when it comes to trauma and rescue but I have a combination of skills that puts me in a unique position. I live at the bottom of Takaka Hill so I’m a good go-to person.’’
His interest in caving began at the suggestion of a flatmate back in his university days in Canterbury.
‘‘For me the appeal has always been the exploration and there’s always so much new stuff going on here that has been the ongoing motivation for going caving.’’
He says participants have varying different reasons for taking part and he has even known some for whom it’s a way of conquering their fear of heights and small spaces.
‘‘I like the idea that I’ve learned how to survive in the environment and be mentally and physically comfortable. And that’s KIERAN MCKAY / FAIRFAX NZ a nice confidence feeling.
‘‘I remember the first time I camped underground and thinking how revolting that was but slowly I’ve got more and more comfortable at staying underground for sometimes a week at a time.’’