Rescue helicopter acknowledged in will after giving couple gift of time

Bruce and Gill know first hand how important the rescue helicopter is, and decided to leave a bequest in their will. Photo / Stephen Barker, Barker Photography

September is Wills Month, and the generous act of naming a charity in your will is one of the most significant gifts that anyone can give to help save a life.

Bruce and Gill know this first hand, and decided to leave a bequest in their will for a rescue helicopter.

Bruce, a tough backcountry farmer, cut an artery in his arm while shearing sheep on their isolated property. It could have ended fatally - he had only minutes to live.

Gill, who had to witness the horror scenario, quickly grabbed a screwdriver to use as a tourniquet on his severed wrist. "The 111 communicator told me the helicopter was 13 minutes away ... 10 minutes away ... 5 minutes away. Bruce had lost the ability to reason and we were trying to talk to him, to keep him with us. He was slipping away," she says.

The helicopter swooped in just in time and a time-critical flight was undertaken in under five minutes to Whanganui Hospital – the flight of Bruce's life.

"I swear to this day, the sound of the helicopter approaching was in time with my heartbeat. It was absolutely amazing hearing that flying in and landing in the paddock beside the house. The rescue helicopter gave us the most precious gift of all - time," says Gill.

"It was such an incredible, lifesaving gift. It was the main reason that we wanted to leave a bequest in our will for the rescue helicopter, not just out of gratitude, but with the desire to give someone else that gift of time ... time so often cut short with no warning, time to say the things we need and want to say to our loved ones."

Today, over 14,000 people owe their lives to the Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter established by a trust formed from a legacy in 1985 when Philips, a private company, lost two of its senior executives in a light aircraft crash.

Those who make provision for a gift to the rescue helicopter in their will are helping to build on that initial legacy, enabling their rescue helicopter to plan for the future and continue lifesaving missions.