Woman hurt in surf accident

The Wainui surf lifesaving club completed their penultimate patrolling weekend of the season on Sunday and for some members of the patrols it was a telling day as they were called on to help a woman injured in a surfing accident near the clubhouse mid-afternoon. From left are Ian Proctor, Anna Manning, Tina Ryan, Sonia Keepa, Hamish Findlay, Zoe Findlay, Adam Glenister, Rama Robertson, Lucy McDiarmid, Lyall Evans, Oliver Tilghman and Salve Zame. Picture supplied

A woman was seriously injured in a surfing accident at Wainui Beach on Sunday afternoon and Wainui SLSC lifeguards at the beach played a key role in looking after her before she was taken to Gisborne Hospital.

The incident happened at around 3pm, just south of the flagged area at the beach.

“The woman was surfing a nice small wave and as she got to the end of her ride she dived off the board, thinking the water was deep enough to do so,” said club chairman Adam Glenister.

“Unfortunately, it was too shallow and she dived head first into the sand.”

Patrol members saw it happen and immediately rushed down to assist the injured 34-year-old.

“They treated her on the beach inititally, suspecting a spinal injury of some kind, and used a backboard to carry her up to the surf club, where she was treated for a further period until the St John ambulance arrived,” Mr Glenister said.

The woman was then transported to Gisborne Hosptial where she was assessed in the Emergency Department and then admitted.

“She was admitted to the rehabilitation ward in a stable condition,” a hospital spokeswoman said yesterday.

Mr Glenister said the patrol on duty did a “really good job” of looking after her until the ambulance arrived.

“They did a fantastic job. I could not be more proud of their efforts.

“It was a real team effort.”

A St John spokesman said the “clubbies” did everything they were supposed to do in looking after her, “and they did it well”.

Riversun Wainui complete their patrolling season next weekend.

Mr Glenister said the club has had its challenges maintaining patrol numbers this season, due to a drop in adult membership.

“But we are finishing our patrolling season well.

“It was so good that one of our former members Rama Robertson, who has been patrol supervisor for Dawson Building Midway for several years, came out to help out at his old club.

“Rama played an important role in looking after the woman injured in Sunday’s incident.”

SLSNZ spokeswoman Sonia Keepa said there had been “amazing support” from the club’s members to come together to continue patrolling to the end of the season —“to keep our beach safe”.