Dad fainted to a ‘beautiful death’
Heart attack on Tongariro Crossing prompts calls for defibrillators to be made available, writes Mike Mather.
Gerd Wilde was smiling as he revelled in the beauty of the volcanic plateau. Seconds later, the 75-year-old toppled over from a massive heart attack.
Son Simon says he is thankful that was how his father spent his final moments; Wilde, who lived in Berlin, Germany, was on a bucket list trip around the world after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, which had spread throughout his body.
The father and son were walking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing when the heart attack happened about midday on Friday.
Wilde’s death has prompted calls for emergency defibrillators to be stationed on the 19.4-kilometre crossing.
Simon Wilde said his father, a dentist, had been fighting cancer for six years but was still living his life to the fullest.
The pair were most of the way through a trip to Costa Rica, Australia and New Zealand. They were four days into the two-week New Zealand leg of that journey and were due to travel on to New Caledonia.
Instead, Simon was preparing to escort his father’s body back to Berlin.
‘‘The minute before he died, I took his picture and he was smiling and happy. Right afterward he said he just needed a second and he sat down. And then he just fainted. It was over in about 10 seconds. I was thankful that it happened in that place. He had an amazing view. It would have been his last experience.’’
Very soon after Gerd’s heart attack, the pair were happened upon by Alain Cayeux, a French traveller who was also walking the track, followed by a Swedish doctor.
In a Facebook post, Cayeux said Wilson was still breathing very shallowly and he and the doctor attempted to resuscitate him.
‘‘He died in my hands . . . this man had the most beautiful death that he could wish [for]: Doing what he loves with his son in a place of breathtaking beauty and without suffering.’’
The Greenlea rescue helicopter arrived about 40 minutes after being alerted to the situation, and a paramedic attempted to revive Gerd with a defibrillator.
But it was too late.
Both Cayeux and Simon Wilde said if any lesson could be taken from Gerd’s death, it was that access to a defibrillator on that part of the track could have potentially saved his life.
Simon Wilde, however, said his father ‘‘was very, very sick’’ and believed walking the track should present no major problems for anyone in a reasonable state of health and fitness.
His father was reasonably fit, despite his encroaching cancer, and still enjoyed canoeing and cycling. He had deemed himself able to conquer the crossing.
He was survived by Simon and his twin sister Sarah.
‘‘He was the best dad I can imagine,’’ Simon Wilde said. ‘‘He knew he was not going to be with us for a great time longer. We wanted to do something special.’’
He said he was particularly touched by the sensitivity and response of both the police and
‘‘The minute before he died I took his picture and he was smiling and happy.’’ Simon Wilde
emergency services, but also Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro and Ngati Tūwharetoa representatives, who had acknowledged his father’s death in prayer and had placed a rāhui on the crossing that will remain in effect until sunrise today.
The death was not the only walking track incident in recent days. At 9am yesterday, a rescue helicopter was dispatched to the Kepler Track at Lake Manapouri in Southland, and an unwell person was flown to Dunedin Hospital for treatment. Further details were not available.
Department of Conservation representatives were not able to respond to inquiries at press time.