Fairlie farmer’s accident inspired his fundraising efforts for new town helipad

Fairlie farmer Andrew Hurst raised $90,000 for a new helipad for his town.

By RNZ

A Fairlie farmer whose leg was shattered in a farm accident has spearheaded a fundraising campaign to get his town a new helipad.

It was a normal day on-farm for Andrew Hurst; he’d just returned from a bull sale and was driving a two-wheeler around his farm.

In a split second, he was under a Hilux that he had not seen coming from the other direction.

He was flown by rescue helicopter to Christchurch, where he spent weeks in hospital having more than 10 surgeries to put his leg back together.

He credits the skill and speed of the helicopter with saving his leg. After recovering, he quickly went about fundraising $90,000 for a new helipad.

“I felt Fairlie needed something better than just a piece of grass to land on.”

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter flew into Fairlie yesterday to officially open the new helipad.

Hurst said it had been a real community effort, with the Lions Club, companies, the Fairlie Community Board, and the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust getting involved.

He admitted that building the helipad was more complex than he first anticipated.

“Initially, I thought I’d just be able to go down with a digger, scrape a bit of grass off and pour some concrete.

“It turns out there’s a lot more involved in a helipad than that.

“But the helipad is as good as it could ever be. I’m stoked with what the community has achieved.”

He said he would hate to think the rescue helicopter couldn’t help someone because it couldn’t land.

“This new helipad is on an IFR route, which means helicopters can fly here in low cloud or more adverse weather conditions.

“We are a small, rural community, the rescue helicopter is the fastest way we can access critical care. The helipad will save lives.”

Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust chief executive Christine Prince said the Fairlie community had shown an extraordinary level of commitment and heart throughout the helipad project.

“This helipad is a meaningful investment in the future health and safety of Fairlie, which will benefit families for generations.”

She said the opening of the helipad was part of a transformation of the region’s rescue helicopter service, known as Mission 2026.

The trust has purchased three state-of-the-art H145 rescue helicopters for the Canterbury West Coast region.

The first of these is now in service, with work underway to make the other two mission-ready.

- RNZ