Nelson a staunch fan of rescue service
The chopper crew was brilliant. I wish I could remember more about the helicopter trip.
“I was beside a waterfall, they couldn’t hear me and I couldn’t hear them. My son had been 20 metres above me and couldn’t find me. My dogs stayed with me and they were reacting to something — they could hear the searchers.”
After three hours of searching, Harvey’s wife and his neighbour found him.
“Boy, was I pleased to see them,” he says.
A call to emergency services brought the Hawke’s Bay Rescue Helicopter overhead, and a paramedic was winched down and joined the searchers in carrying Harvey to where he could be loaded aboard. It was five hours since his accident.
“The chopper crew was brilliant. I wish I could remember more about the helicopter trip,” he says.
From Hawke’s Bay Hospital, Harvey was flown to Lower Hutt Hospital where he had six surgeries to screw and plate his femur and tibia and re-route a flap from his thigh to cover the wound.
He’s still on crutches and “a long way off walking yet”, but when he’s mobile he intends to go to the helicopter hangar to catch up and say thanks.
In the meantime, he says he’s very lucky to have the support of his wife and family to help run the farm.
When Claire Wilson was deciding where this year’s Winter Olympics fundraising would go, Harvey put his hand up for the Hawke’s Bay Rescue Helicopter.
“We can’t be without it. The number of people they pick up, we have to keep it funded. Plenty of us horse people have used it and I couldn’t think of anything better to support.
“We do farm work on horses and my accident was nothing I did, or the horse, it was just a bit of bad luck on the day. Any one of us could need the helicopter at any time.
“The effort Claire puts into this fundraiser and the support she gets back is amazing.”
The event is at Mt Herbert Farm, Pō rangahau Rd, Waipukurau, on Saturday, April 27. Entries via mainevents.com and close on April 22. Spectators are encouraged.