REBECCA STEVENSON
HUNTER Steadman's large brown eyes are matched by a wide two-tooth grin.
The seven-month-old is a sweet and happy baby and has been from day one, said his mum Rachel Steadman.
But Easter Friday was unusual. Hunter was sleepy, quiet and pale. Then he started to go blue.
The Greenmeadows mother-of-two picked up her own mum and together they took Hunter to the local doctor. He was referred to Hawke's Bay Hospital, arriving there at 10am, unconscious.
By 5pm the little boy was strapped back into his car seat, strapped to a stretcher and loaded into the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter - bound for Wellington and life-saving surgery on a collapsed bowel.
Without the chopper, Hunter would have still got to Wellington Hospital, but maybe not in time to get the treatment he needed. It is a point not lost on either of his parents. ``It did get quite serious, it was serious,' Mrs Steadman said, watching her husband Lance juggle a rambunctious Hunter in his arms.
The rescue helicopter does more than news-making search and rescues. The service transfers patients needing acute care from outlying areas like Wairoa to Hawke's Bay Hospital, and from Hawke's Bay to intensive treatment in Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch.
Pilot Brent Williams said the service's work was about half search and rescue, half patient transfers. The beauty of the chopper is flying directly from one hospital to another, literally landing on the roof as he did to get Hunter into an operating theatre at Wellington Hospital. And now, only days later Hunter is fine. He bounced back quickly, said Mr Steadman.
``The next day I gave him a feed and he had a poo and we knew everything was back to normal,' he said smiling at his son.
``He is just a cool little kid, we are just so grateful.' Especially grateful to the staff at the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter, Mrs Steadman said.
``I don't know what we would have done if they hadn't just taken us. Before I had time to think,, we were in the chopper. The service is just wonderful, what they provide for the people of Hawke's Bay.
``It is just amazing.'
Copter ride brings back smile
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