Waipukurau Mitre 10 helps beautify rescue helicopter service hangar

The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter on the ground at Pourerere Beach, Central Hawke’s Bay, recently.

The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter Service carried out 415 life-saving missions throughout Hawke’s Bay in 2023, more than 40 to Central Hawke’s Bay.

So when it reached out on Facebook asking if anyone could help sort out the sorry-looking garden at the front of its hangar in Hastings, Mitre 10 Waipukurau manager Michael Bennie said yes.

As a volunteer firefighter, Michael is aware of what the rescue chopper means to Central Hawke’s Bay, with its isolated rural communities, as well as being traversed by a state highway with a high rate of high-speed crashes.

Michael turned up at the Hastings hangar with a van-load of compost, mulch, bark and some ground cover plants, donated by Mitre10 Waipukurau and Tui Garden Products.

Mitre 10 Waipukurau manager Michael Bennie with donations towards renovation of the garden at the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter hangar in Hastings.

A spokeswoman for the rescue chopper said they were amazed at what the van contained.

“Michael has always been really supportive, and with what he delivered, and the help from the many people who saw our plea and volunteered, we will have a garden that looks good and is low maintenance. It will be a real boost to see it looking nice.”

Over the past two weeks, the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter Service made a trip to Pourerere Beach to help an injured 2-year old child, who was transported to Hastings Hospital with his mum and is now fully recovered.

The chopper also played a vital role in attending a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Elsthorpe Rd and Middle Rd at 1.34pm on Saturday, where a witness said a car and motorbike had collided.

A spokesperson for Hato Hone St John said it had responded with one ambulance, one rapid-response vehicle, one operations manager and the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter, which flew a critically injured 59-year-old man to Hastings Hospital, from where he was then flown to Auckland Hospital.

The injured man was still in Auckland Hospital in a stable condition early this week.

The road was closed for at least five hours as the serious crash unit carried out its work, a police spokesperson said.

The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter crew will be holding their first open day in Central Hawke’s Bay on Saturday, January 27, when the chopper and members from other emergency services will be at Russell Park in Waipukurau from 10am to 2pm.

For only a gold coin donation, you can explore the yellow helicopter, meet the crew and have a family-friendly day out, with face painting, a bouncy castle, sausage sizzle, icecreams and more.