Rory’s Story
When 26-year-old Rory Gentle and girlfriend Lucy went surfing at Raumati Beach one Sunday morning, the very last thing they thought of was Rory ending up in the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. But it just goes to show, you never know when you might need it!
Rory came off his board head first into very shallow water.
Rory says, “The first thing I felt was a tingling sensation through my whole back, my neck and both arms. Every surfer hears the horror stories about injuries, so I immediately stood up and made sure I could still walk.
“I yelled out to Lucy, walked to shore and sat down. My neck then started cramping up badly: I was in heaps of pain, and basically freaking out.”
Lucy called 111 from her cell phone and a Wellington Free Ambulance was dispatched. “Those guys arrived really quickly, they were great.” The paramedics ascertained the seriousness of the neck injury, stabilised Rory into a collar and spine board and decided that they needed the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Because of his injuries, Rory needed to get to hospital with minimal movement and very quickly. It doesn’t get much faster than a 12-minute trip from Raumati Beach to Wellington Hospital’s helipad, which in turn is only a few seconds away from the Emergency Department.
“When the paramedics called the rescue helicopter, it all really sunk in. I was pretty hazy in the helicopter because I’d been given pain relief, but I knew there were people looking after me and making sure I stayed conscious.
“I do remember that the flight was pretty quick – it honestly felt like just a couple of minutes. It was cool that Lucy could fly with me too: if she’d had to stay behind she would have been so worried not knowing how I was.”
Rory was diagnosed with a cervical fracture, or in other words a broken neck. He was in hospital for four days and is off work for three months, but is now recovering well. “I have X-rays every two weeks and the last one was looking good.”
This mission is a good example of the coordination between Wellington Free Ambulance and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Crewperson Keith Frewen comments: “Rory was just incredibly lucky he didn’t knock himself out in the fall too… otherwise it would have been an entirely different situation.”
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