Te Puke man survives 8m fall on to rocks near No. 4 Rd bridge, has not ‘broken anything’

As gravity took hold, Kane Powell saw the rocks at least 8m beneath him. He knew he was going to hit them.

The 28-year-old had been swimming with a friend at Te Puke’s Raparapahoe Stream off No. 4 Rd. The swimming hole, less than a kilometre from No. 3 Rd, was one he had visited before to jump from a bridge into the deep, cool, water below.

On Sunday, Powell decided to jump from a nearby bank instead. He felt a twinge of doubt, but ignored it.

“I sort of did a run and jump from the road.”

Powell had forgotten about a hidden knob of rock that stuck out about 8m below.

“I jumped as I made it to the [edge] of the bank but I saw it was too late. I knew I was going to hit it. It was pretty scary,” he said.

“There were quite a few kids around and families. We all realised it was too late for me.”

In those fleeting seconds of gravity taking hold, mid-air, Powell had the presence of mind to tuck his lower left leg up and try to shift to his side to try to protect his ankles.

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“I didn’t want to land on my feet. They would have been crushed,” he said.

When he hit, the jolt of pain was like nothing Powell had ever experienced before.

“It was like white lightning, you could almost taste it, taste the nerves.”

“It sounded like a crunch and a bang.”

Powell “bounced” off the rocks and into the water.

Kane Powell pictured at the spot where he jumped off a bank at Te Puke's No. 4 Rd aiming for the stream, but landing on rocks instead, snapping a boulder off. Its remains are underwater in the bottom right of this photo. Photo / Alex Cairns

A witness saw it all unfold. He dragged Powell to the side of the stream and held him while emergency services were called.

Powell said he assured everyone he was okay as he did not want to upset the children present, “but I thought I had internal bleeding”.

“Probably for that first minute, I started freaking out. I thought I was going to die.”

Hato Hone St John ambulance officers arrived in about 15 minutes, followed closely by the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter.

Powell was winched into the helicopter and flown to Tauranga Hospital.

“I had a little cry on the helicopter trip,” Powell said.

“I was just sorry, not for myself but for everyone else. It was just a stupid idea. I made a mistake.”

He was not sure if he would attempt any jumps again, but if he did he would be far more cautious and listen to his instinct, he said.

“You have to take the time to learn the area. If you have second doubts, don’t do it.”

Kane Powell jumped off a bank at Te Puke No. 4 Road thinking he'd land in a stream. He landed on rocks instead and had to be airlifted out. Photo / Alex Cairns

Powell was “extremely relieved”, and a little shocked, to learn from doctors he had no broken bones or other major injuries.

His knee, however, was now “the size of a bowling ball” and could not walk without crutches.

“I’m extremely lucky I haven’t broken anything. But my knee – there’s a few bits of bone floating around in there apparently. My left leg is extremely swollen. It’s quite sore. The whole underneath of my thigh is bruised black and purple. It’s like jelly.

“I’m really lucky.”

Powell returned home on Tuesday sore and tired but grateful.

Revisiting the bank on Wednesday, Powell said the ACC ad that asked, “if you get hurt, who gets harmed?” came to mind.

The submerged flat rock is all that remains of a larger rock formation that broke off when Kane Powell landed on it after jumping from a bank. Photo / Alex Cairns

“I just really want to thank everyone who helped me,” he said.

The orchard worker said he was likely to be off work at least 18 days.

Witness Nate Blayney was with his partner, friends and children when they saw Powell on top of the bank.

“He was about to run and jump. I thought ‘s***, that’s going to be a f*** up’. I could just see it happening.

“I heard him splat on the rocks. He went down into the water. I waited for him to come back up, he was a bit distressed. I got him and swam him out. My buddy jumped on the phone to the ambulance.”

Kane Powell is grateful to have escaped without major injuries. Photo / Alex Cairns

The local said he and his friends were “avid river swimmers” and people had been jumping off that bridge and bank for years. He had never seen something like this.

“He broke a boulder. He smoked a good bit of the rock off.”

Blayney said he felt bad for Powell.

“It’s just a human error. I don’t consider it [the area] dangerous at all. Mistakes happen.”

Western Bay of Plenty District Council reserves and facilities manager Peter Watson said there was a risk swimming at any natural water bodies, including the No. 4 Rd bridge, that weather events could change the environment.

The No. 4 Rd bridge was washed out in last year’s Auckland Anniversary weekend flooding.

“The bridge is in a slightly different position now, and it is likely that the river environs have changed substantially following this large flood event,” Watson said.

The council did not promote or manage the area as a swimming hole.

Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.