A man had to be rescued off a cliff face after falling, ending up stranded for more than five hours. Photo / Northland LandSAR
A man had to be rescued off a cliff face after falling, ending up stranded for more than five hours. Photo / Northland LandSAR
A man clinging to a cliff face in Northland for more than five hours after falling 30m is lucky to be alive, police say.
The 53-year-old phoned police on Saturday about 9.40pm saying he had fallen near Butterfly Bay, north of Tauranga Bay.
Detective Sergeant Ryan Cooper ofNorthland Search and Rescue said initially the cell phone coverage was poor, making it difficult to pinpoint the man’s exact location.
“There were long periods where we were not able to speak to him via phone or text.”
Cooper said police believed, based on their first call with the man, that he had fallen 30m to 45m down a cliff face.
“A member of SAR managed to voice appeal the man using sound line techniques,” Cooper said.
“This was very difficult to do as to be able to locate him our officer had to saddle the side of the cliff.”
A Northland Land Search and Rescue team of seven performed a rescue of a man off Tauranga Bay on Saturday night. Photo / Northland LandSAR
At the same time the Northern Emergency Services Trust deployed a helicopter but were unable to reach the man because of the steep terrain and strong winds.
“Unfortunately, this was not known at the time of deployment, as we were not certain of his exact location initially,” Cooper said.
Once rescuers pinpointed the man’s whereabouts, Northland LandSAR set up a rope system and used it to winch him to safety at 2.36am.
He was then reunited with his son at a nearby campground.
LandSAR field team member Robbie Blankenstein said the man had been in a “precarious position” since about 5pm the day before.
Cooper said the man was extremely shaken up but miraculously hadn’t suffered any injuries aside from a few scrapes and bruises.
“This rescue presented challenges with the cell phone reception and weather being a factor, but we managed to rescue the man back to safety.”
Cooper said the operation was a success and credited LandSAR for their work.
“It’s times like these where our LandSAR teams combined skills lead to a successful rescue,” he said.
Blankenstein said it was a timely reminder to know the conditions you’re going into.
“I think people need to assess the conditions they’re going into ... you can become a victim of the conditions fairly quickly.”
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
