KEY POINTS:
An 85-year-old man killed when he fell 50m down a cliff while disposing of rubbish on his Bay of Plenty farm had survived a heart attack six years ago and recovered last year from a broken leg.
Dick Peers, one of two brothers well known in the Omanawa area for their large sheep and cattle farm near McLaren Falls, 20km from Tauranga, died about 6pm on Monday after falling over the cliff.
A difficult three-hour rescue was launched to retrieve his body, which was eventually airlifted on a stretcher about 10pm by a St John paramedic hanging from the TrustPower TECT rescue helicopter.
Mr Peers' body was found by part-time farm worker Danny Gill, 62, from Pyes Pa. Mr Gill, employed on the farm for about 13 years, said he was leaving after a day's work about 6.15pm when he saw Mr Peers' truck parked near the cliff-top dumping area.
Wondering why the truck was still there an hour after Mr Peers usually finished work, Mr Gill went to investigate. He became concerned and called Mr Peers' brother Ross, who called emergency services, while Mr Gill scrambled down the cliff.
Ambulance staff found Mr Peers' body about halfway down the 100m cliff in dense bush.
"His brother [Ross] is 83 or something and he was too old to be going down over that bank so I went ... and found him lying down the bottom."
It would be hard to find out what led to the accident, Mr Gill said. "He went up to throw some garden rubbish ... we can say he slipped, we can say he fell, we can say he had a dizzy spell, we can say all sorts of things. We'll never know."
Acting Senior Sergeant Carl Purcell of Tauranga said the cliff where Mr Peers fell dropped down to the Mangapapa River.
Mr Gill's brother, Kevin Gill, 55, said he had worked as sharemilker on Mr Peers' farm for the past 16 years.
"He was a big man in stature and a big man in respect," he said. "He just went to a job he had done a million times before. It's a pretty sad day for everyone."
Mr Gill said Mr Peers was fit and had survived a heart attack six years ago. He had also recovered from a broken leg last year.
It is understood that Mr Peers has lived in the area since 1932.
He lived alone, had never married and had no children.
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES
