Referee comes to aid of schoolgirl after blow to head
A Dannevirke rugby referee who helped an injured schoolgirl player will be there to support her if she returns to the field. James Kendrick came to the rescue of Palmerston North Girls’ High School player Rebekah Turner at a game against Dannevirke High School at Dannevirke last month, when 16-year-old Turner took a knock to the head. Kendrick, who is a St John volunteer and volunteer firefighter, leapt to action and held Rebekah’s neck and comforted her while she lay on the ground. They were there for an hour until the rescue helicopter came and took her to Middlemore Hospital in Auckland. Kendrick said Rebekah told him she was keen to return to play. ‘‘I said to Rebekah: ‘If you play rugby next year, I’ll make you a promise, I’ll referee the first game you play next year’,’’ he said. Rebekah is now back at school on limited hours as she recovers. The injury happened about 10 minutes into the game when Kendrick, who has refereed for 30 years in Manawatu¯ and Hawke’s Bay, looked back and saw Rebekah on the ground. ‘‘I wasn’t interested in play continuing, in refereeing a game. I was tied up with Rebekah. That became my priority then – her safety and wellbeing. ‘‘[The two teams] continued to play on the soccer field. I stayed with her right through.’’ Kendrick said he assessed she had no feeling from the waist down and he was worried about hypothermia, because it was wet and cold. Thanks to his volunteer work he knew the response time for an ambulance, so he waited until the helicopter came. The fire brigade was also called. ‘‘It’s great to know your mates are on the way, that you’ve got another group of fellas. You don’t need to ask them what to do.’’ Rebekah and her mother thanked him with a card and chocolates. ‘‘One of the big things that hit home was when Chris, Rebekah’s mother, she said if I hadn’t have done what I had done in that first 10, 15 minutes, her daughter would never have walked again,’’ Kendrick said. ‘‘It’s quite a big thing eh?’’ Kendrick, who works at BP and Mitre 10, is the chairman for St John’s Ma¯ ori advisory group and is responsible for developing policy between iwi and St John.