Paraglider injured in crash

"He kept complaining of back pain so just as a precaution, we kept him talking."

Greg Eustace

A small coastal town raced against the tide following a paraglider crash at a remote South Taranaki beach.

When Manaia fire brigade volunteer Greg Eustace received the alert a paraglider had crashed about one kilometre south of Kaupokonui Heads Rd, near the Kaupokonui Stream, about 3.10pm yesterday, he rushed the cows in and hopped on his motorbike.

‘‘By the time I got there the police were just arriving,’’ he said.

‘‘They took me up with them to the motor camp [Kaupokonui Beach Camp] and we had to walk two bays around to get the guy.’’

The paraglider, who Eustace described as a man in his 50s, was ‘‘just going along and missed the wind’’, which resulted in a tumble to the rocky beach below.

A St John ambulance spokesperson said the location of the paraglider, who had injured his back, was inaccessible by road and a helicopter equipped with winching capabilities had to be dispatched from Palmerston North.

Eustace said the paraglider had someone with him but was unable to move.

‘‘He kept complaining of back pain so just as a precaution, we kept him talking.’’

But the location on the coast north of Ha¯ wera had no cellphone coverage, Eustace said, so when more emergency personnel arrived, some were tasked to stay at the top of the beach in order to communicate with dispatch.

‘‘Then the tide was coming up quick,’’ he said.

‘‘We got a board lowered down the cliff, which was about 10 or 12 metres high, and moved him away from the water line.’’

The helicopter was going to winch the paraglider but instead managed to land safely on the beach, Eustace said.

‘‘It was pretty tight,’’ he said. The paraglider had sustained moderate injuries and was flown to Taranaki Base Hospital, a St John spokeswoman said.