A man was air lifted to hospital this morning with serious burns to much of his body after a fire lighting incident went wrong near Dannevirke.
The Palmerston North Rescue Helicopter flew the man to Palmerston North Hospital where his condition was stabilised. Later this afternoon he required an emergency hospital transfer to the Hutt Valley Hospital for specialist burns treatment.
While returning from the Hutt Valley the helicopter crew were alerted to a patient in a serious condition near the Waiohine River in the eastern Tararua Ranges near Greytown and was immediately re-directed to the scene.
"A Masterton man in his 60s was suffering a heart attack on the river bank in an area of difficult access. The on-board St John Ambulance Intensive Care Para-Medic was lowered into the scene on the rescue hoist and extricated the patient who was then airlifted directly to the Wellington Hospital rooftop in a serious condition."