Motorcyclist injured on Rimutaka Hill Rd
Sat 27/02/2010 17:58
The Wellington based
Westpac Rescue Helicopter transported a seriously injured motorcyclist off the
Rimutaka Hill Road late this afternoon.
The helicopter, with
a Wellington Free Ambulance Helicopter Paramedic onboard was called to the
accident at 3:45 pm this afternoon.
On our arrival,
about 1/2 way up the road from Upper Hutt to the Rimutaka Summit, police had
stopped traffic so the helicopter could land and a WFA road ambulance was on the
scene beginning treatment of the patient.
The motorcyclist, a
24 year old Upper Hutt man, was heading towards Upper Hutt and said he lost
control of the bike and hit the bank.
"The motorcyclist
was quite lucky in that the next vehicle behind him parked his 4x4 across the
traffic lane, preventing any other motorists from running over the motorcyclist"
says Dave Greenberg, Westpac Rescue Helicopter crewman. "The man in the 4x4 and
people from another vehicle kept the man as comfortable as possible until the
ambulance arrived.
The helicopter
landed on the Rimutaka Hill Road about 100 metres from the accident scene. This
closed down traffic on the road for just over 30 minutes.
The man has been
transported to Wellington Hospital Emergency Department where he is being
treated and assessed for back and chest injuries. He appears to be seriously
injured but the injuries are not believed to be life
threatening.
Small pictures from
the scene are available at http://twitpic.com/15jz9k and http://twitpic.com/15jxkb -- photo
credits to www.lifeflight.org.nz please. Larger
versions of the pictures are available.
For more information please contact:
Dave Greenberg
Westpac Rescue
Helicopter
029 233
8284
