The Charity Roast
September 6 SkyCity Convention Centre charityroast.org.nz Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust, Prostate Cancer Foundation Sir Peter Leitch Sir Graham Henry, Sir John Kirwan, Leighton Smith
Light-hearted celebration to poke good-natured fun at guest landed on my back. A wave washed me off and drove me into the ocean.
“I was down 6ft [1.8m] under water. I started kicking and I couldn’t move so I thought my back had been broken. I thought I was going to drown.”
He hauled himself back on to the rocks, but, feeling himself being sucked out again by the powerful waves, jammed a hand into a rocky gap. The force of the swell on Fraser’s body wrecked his wrist before he freed it and crawled up on the rock shelf.
His diving mates found him and began the rescue mission. A Coastguard boat took him to Tairua, an ambulance carried him to a local park and the rescue helicopter flew him to Auckland City Hospital. Flight paramedic Russell Clarke and Dr Ula Haywood gave pain relief as Fraser had an open wound above his right eye, a fractured right wrist and pelvic pain. His condition on the way to the hospital was judged serious and he was later transferred to Middlemore Hospital where he spent two weeks in the intensive care unit.
He also suffered injuries to his back and his right hip, ankle and shoulder.
“The hand surgeon told me that my injury was up there as the worst he had seen in his 17 years. That’s when I knew I’d done some damage. I’ve got so much metal in my wrist it’s ridiculous.”
His injuries have forced him to give up his job as a landscaper and he is now studying for a masters degree in business.
Fraser is full of praise for all his rescuers and says of the helicopter outfit: “They’re magic, lifesavers — they’re brilliant.”