The Greenlea Rescue Helicopter from Taupo at the jetboat crash scene on the Ngaruroro River on Saturday before flying two men to hospital in Hastings. Photo / Supplied
The Greenlea Rescue Helicopter from Taupo at the jetboat crash scene on the Ngaruroro River on Saturday before flying two men to hospital in Hastings. Photo / Supplied
Two men injured when a jetboat flipped on the Ngaruroro River west of Hastings during the weekend were late-Tuesday reported to be in stable conditions in Hawke's Bay Hospital.
The two men, one in the 60s and the other in the 50s, were with the younger man's 15-year-old son whenthe mishap happened mid-morning on Saturday, and were seriously injured when thrown from the craft on to the rocks in the vicinity of the Whanawhana Valley, about 30km from Hastings.
One had a serious head gash and the other a shoulder fracture, rib injuries and a punctured lung.
The 15-year-old was not injured and after making the two men as comfortable as possible on an island between the shallow forks in the river and made his way downstream for possibly an hour looking for cellphone coverage before text-messaging his brother to call for help, just after 11.30am.
He was able to identify the site as "the cable," a location known to regular users of the river in the area and near where the jetboat had a short while earlier turned to head back downstream towards Maraekakaho where it had been launched earlier in the morning.
With the Lowe Corporation Hawke's Bay Rescue Helicopter on another mission at the time, the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter flew from Taupo, landed on the riverbed and took both men to hospital in Hastings.
Local farmers with a tractor helped at the scene, including salvaging the jetboat, and a police Search and Rescue operation was mounted.
Hawke's Bay Today has been told the boat had landed on top of the older man and was lifted-off by the second man despite his shoulder and rib injuries.
