Driver airlifted
An 89-year-old man was airlifted to Whangarei Hospital after a crash on State Highway 10 thought to have been triggered by a medical event. Police say the man was leaving Gull service station in Waipapa in a small Honda just after 10am yesterdaywhen he started driving erratically and collided head-on with a van.
The elderly driver was assessed as being in a critical condition by a passing off-duty paramedic. He was taken by ambulance to Kerikeri Sports Complex, then flown to Whangarei Hospital by the Northland Rescue Helicopter.
The other driver, a 67-year-old Kerikeri man, was taken to Bay of Islands Hospital but discharged later in the day. The crash blocked one lane of the highway until the debris could be cleared away.
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