Life Flight

Each week 28 people need time-critical aeromedical care. With your support, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and Air Ambulance Planes are there in their moment of need.

Mission stories

  • Meet Hugo from Blenheim

    When mum-to-be Jess’s water broke two months earlier than expected, none of the local hospitals were equipped for such an early birth. Thanks to you, our air ambulance plane was ready at a moment's notice.

  • Meet Nicky from Carterton

    Despite the cardiac arrest that left Nicky with memory loss and a pacemaker, she’s thankful to come out of it with her life.

  • Meet Harrison from Wellington

    Harrison has been a fighter since birth. He defied all odds in surviving a severe brain bleed when born. Unfortunately, it wasn’t his last fight.

  • Meet Lee from Auckland

    Lee, an experienced horserider, was enjoying a day out at a friends farm in Masterton. Shortly after, she was speeding to Wellington Hospital in the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

  • In memory of August

    Baby August was a happy, cheeky, and brave boy that touched many hearts in his fourteen months on earth. Thank you to his parents, Ursula and Jake, for sharing their story.

  • Meet Ewen from Masterton

    Wairarapa local Ewen woke suddenly in his bed. His arms were numb, his body cold and clammy. He was having a massive heart attack.

  • Meet Taylor from Nelson

    Baby Taylor had a dramatic start to life; born prematurely in Nelson, she suffered a collapsed lung. Life Flight's Air Ambulance plane was ready.

  • Meet Andrew from Wairarapa

    Forty years ago, a seriously injured Andrew was flown from remote Wairarapa bush by Peter Button. Decades later, he needed the Westpac Chopper once more.

  • Kaikōura Water Rescue

    The Westpac Rescue Helicopter team winches three people off a boat near Kaikōura. No power and battling high waves, the boat sank five minutes later.

  • Meet Charlotte and Eleanor from Palmerston North

    A routine ultrasound for Mum-to-be Rebekah had a different outcome than expected...

  • Meet Bill from Pelorus Sounds

    Living in a remote part of the country, Bill understands the need for Life Flight more than anyone.

  • Meet Bentley from Kāpiti

    What should have been a moment of joy quickly turned into distress when newborn Bentley didn’t respond as normal.

  • Meet Pat from Kāpiti

    A walk on a friend's farm quickly took a turn for 85-year-old grandmother, Pat.

  • Meet Tilly from Upper Hutt

    When two-year-old Tilly's blood test showed an abnormal result, her mum decided to Google what that meant. The first thing that came up was leukaemia. 

  • Meet Jarrod from Wairarapa

    It was a wet day at work for Jarrod, who was driving along the rugged Mount Bruce landscape when suddenly he found himself rolling down a steep, grassy hill.

  • Meet Kaz from Kāpiti

    As Kaz lay in agony in the Maungakotukutuku hills with life-threatening injuries, the sound of the whirring blades of the Westpac Chopper gave her hope.

  • Meet Santiago from Wellington

    Kylie, her husband Fede and their two children went for a Sunday hike in the Remutaka Forest Park when disaster struck.

  • Meet Alice from Paraparaumu

    Alice was winched from the Paraparaumu bush after a severe fall.

  • Meet Waylon from Clyde

    When newborn Waylon started losing consciousness, an Air Ambulance Plane was quickly dispatched to get him to Wellington Hospital.

  • Meet Zachariah from Palmerston North

    Being helped by a manual oxygen pump, premature baby Zachariah needed to get to Wellington Hospital fast.

  • Meet Pip from Fielding

    Thanks to your support, Pip was able to recover from a brain aneurysm, a condition that has a 60% survival rate.

  • Meet Stefan from Wairarapa

    A routine tonsillectomy turned into an emergency transfer from Masterton to Wellington for four-year-old Stefan, his mum, and baby sister.

  • Meet Lincoln from Upper Hutt

    Floating alone, freezing, 300 metres off the coast - Lincoln grew weaker by the second.

  • Meet Abby and Hunter from Nelson

    Your kind donations help worried mothers like Katrina get their children the urgent specialist care they need.

  • Meet Joe from the Wairarapa

    When Joe broke his leg in the Aorangi Forest Park with night quickly approaching, he was thankful to have a personal location beacon on hand.

  • Meet Avitaj from Kāpiti

    After a blissful nine months of eagerly waiting to become a Dad, Dilpreet’s life suddenly turned upside down when the doctor warned him he may lose his baby.

  • Meet Ethan from Nelson

    Twenty-eight weeks pregnant, Tracy had no idea her life was in danger when she was rushed to Nelson Hospital after her midwife spotted potentially fatal symptoms.

  • Meet Indianna from Whanganui

    Indianna was born with congenital heart disease hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Her mum, Carmen, shares her story.

  • Meet Colin from Blenheim

    Colin Tandy barely clung to life after his truck rolled 80 metres down a Marlborough cliff.

  • Meet Lily from Wellington

    Our Air Ambulance Plane provided safe transport for New Zealand's youngest receiver of a new heart.

  • Meet Katie-Jane from Upper Hutt

    After a devastating motorbike crash in the Wairarapa, Katie Jane was flown to Wellington Hospital – but the care she received didn’t end with that flight.

  • Meet Matese from Lower Hutt

    5-week-old Matese needed a life-saving flight in our Air Ambulance Plane to Starship Children's Hospital.

  • Meet Richard from Cape Palliser

    Our Westpac Chopper was able to provide Richard with a lifeline when his yacht became uncontrollable.

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