Israeli tramper Michal Parnes has left a sour taste in the mouths of some of those who saved her from almost certain death on the Milford Track.
After she was lifted in a hypothermic state and with a broken leg from the track after a 25m fall last week, Ms Parnes
thanked her rescuers by ringing from her hospital bed to demand that police send her the torn and bloodied clothes St John staff had removed to treat her injuries.
Police had to retrieve them from a rubbish bin to post them off.
Sergeant Peter Payne, of Te Anau, said yesterday that Ms Parnes, 25, had been insistent to the point of being rude in calling to demand the clothing.
"I had actually thrown them out because contaminated stuff like that can't be stored," Mr Payne said.
Police had spent $15,000 to rescue the solo Israeli tramper from the track, money they did not attempt to recoup as a matter of policy.
St John officer Frank Dewhurst was also disappointed at Ms Parnes' reaction.
He was the one who had cut the clothes off so he could treat her broken leg and other injuries.
"I told her the clothing wasn't worth having back because I had cut it off her."
Ms Parnes said she had not intended to upset those involved in saving her life and she was sorry. The clothes had sentimental value because they had been presents.
She had gone ahead with her solo tramp despite warnings from DoC staff that she was under-prepared.
She conceded she had ignored that advice.
"I have no regrets. You just have to learn from your mistakes. It happens. You have to learn from it."
Weeks before her Milford Track ordeal, Ms Parnes lost a car to the surf at Oreti Beach, near Invercargill.
