Tramper couple 'lucky to survive'

Paramedics load 70-year-old Richard Senior on to the rescue helicopter.

A 70-year-old tramper was yesterday recovering in hospital after he and his wife were trapped in snow for a night in the heart of Te Urewera National Park between Wairoa and Rotorua.

Beginning to suffer hypothermia, scientist Richard Senior and wife and nurse Joy managed to phone for help on Friday night, when they were about 10 minutes from the summit of Mt Manuoha, north of Lake Waikaremoana and, at almost 1400m, the high-point of Te Urewera National Park.

Conditions meant they were unable to be reached by helicopter rescue services from Rotorua, and they spent the night in sleeping bags in the snow beside the track. The Lowe Corporation Hawkes Bay Rescue Helicopter picked them up on Saturday morning.

Wairoa area search and rescue controller Senior Constable Tony Maultsaid said the couple were very lucky to have survived after the cold night, which included a front that delayed putting the helicopter into the area.

Equally lucky was their phone call.

"It was from an 027 number, and I didn't think that worked up there," said Mr Maultsaid. "It was fairly intermittent."

The call was made at 7.23pm on Friday and the mission initially was handled by Bay of Plenty rescuers until, with two helicopter flights aborted because of the conditions, it was decided to attempt the rescue from the eastern side.

The Lowe Corporation crew used night-vision equipment in initial attempts to reach the couple, but were unable to fly into the immediate area because of cloud.

Mr Maultsaid the couple were met in the morning by a group of four trampers who had been at Manuoha Hut, and were helped into dry sleeping bags before the rescue helicopter arrived.

The couple were landed near Wairoa Hospital about 9am on Saturday, with the man suffering hypothermia. His wife was discharged after treatment.