‘I thought I would die on that ridge’
Hunkered down in isolated bush as a freezing, wet southerly blew across the Cook Strait, a 17-year-old Wairarapa hunter thought he would not survive the night.
‘‘I thought I was going to die on that ridge. I sobbed like a baby when help arrived,’’ rescued Carterton student Aiden van Praag said.
Walking in with another hunter on Friday with a planned three-hour trek to Washpool Hut in Aorangi Forest Park in South Wairarapa, van Praag became separated just as night was falling.
He lost his footing on the track and slipped around 20 metres down a steep, damp slope. Not able to get back up again, he had to drop down several small waterfalls in a gully on his way to a creek at the bottom of the valley.
While trying to scale down a 10m drop in the dark with a headlamp on, he fell an estimated 7m onto the creek bed, injuring both knees.
‘‘I thought I’d shattered both kneecaps, and I was feeling shooting pains up the side of the leg when I walked,’’ he said.
The weather had not yet packed in, so he pulled out an emergency sleeping sack and tried to settle in for the night beside the creek.
The next day his companion, who had stayed in the hut up the top of valley, located him, and they both gingerly climbed the slope to the track.
The pair made plans to walk out to the car park at the Pinnacles, but van Praag became separated again.
His injuries slowed his progress and when darkness fell he began to lose sight of the track and decided his only choice was to spend another night in the bush.
Unfortunately, the weather worsened and the southerly rain started to set in. He still had a bit of power left in his phone and called his mother and then emergency services.
Searchers were able to track his phone and pinpointed his location on the ridge.
The ambulance service and police search and rescue made the call to attempt a night-time extraction with the Westpac
Rescue Helicopter. Though the aircraft was able to find van Praag, wind and conditions meant they were not able to winch him out.
Two Wairarapa Search and Rescue volunteers and a paramedic were able to get to the spot about 1am.
With assistance and painkillers, van Praag was able to make the three-hour walk out to the car park and was home in Carterton by 5am.
Pete Cunningham of police search and rescue said the conditions meant van Praag was in real danger of succumbing to exposure if the search had been left until morning.
‘‘The problem is a wet person, with wet clothing, with wind chill is susceptible to hypothermia.’’
Cunningham said van Praag did not do everything right, but he was smart enough to get help when he needed it.
‘‘He’s got to a high point, he’s used his cellphone for help straight away when he knows he’s in trouble and he’s stayed put, which was good.
‘‘The negative side was he didn’t have any shelter. At this time of year, they’ve got to have some form of shelter to keep them dry.’’
‘‘The problem is a wet person, with wet clothing, with wind chill is susceptible to hypothermia.’’ Pete Cunningham Police Search and Rescue