Video: dramatic Tamaterau water rescue, man fighting for his life

When Tamaterau residents on the waterfront saw a helicopter fly over the water Monday afternoon, not many realized that a life was at stake.

When a person was lowered into the water of Whangārei harbor from the helicopter, many thought it was a training exercise, until the person resurfaced with a limp body in his arms.

“I thought they were training and the next minute they threw the guy into the water, the guy from the helicopter,” said Michelle Sims-Handcock, a Tamaterau resident.

“Then he pulled the body out and my heart skipped a beat. I honestly thought he was dead.”

Emergency services rushed to Tamaterau Beach before 1:00 pm when a member of the public informed police that he had seen a man enter the water but did not exit.

After being rescued from the water, the man, described as tall, thin and wearing shorts, was airlifted to Whangārei Hospital in critical condition. As of Monday’s issue, the man was in critical care.

Sims-Handcock, who lives overlooking the water, said he saw the helicopter hovering 200 to 400 meters from shore before the man was recovered.

After heading to the water’s edge to see if he could help, Sims-Handcock was told how dire the situation was.

“I told the [police officer], ‘Is he alive?’ And he said, ‘Barely.’

Police said they were supporting a woman who was on the shore at the time of the rescue and was visibly upset.

Sims-Handcock believed that this was the partner of the man she spoke to. She said that the partner was very upset.

Tamaterau resident George Kayryakov was driving into the city around 10:30 a.m. and saw two people sitting on a rock near the beach where the man was found.

Returning from the city around noon, Kayryakov saw the couple again and believed they were the two people involved in Monday’s incident. However, he said he did not see them enter the water and only learned of the incident when he saw an ambulance heading towards shore.

Ramon Rudolph was parked with a friend near where the incident occurred and said he heard a faint scream around 1:00 p.m. Assuming it was children playing on a nearby trail, he didn’t think about it until he saw emergency services arrive.

“That’s the sad thing, when you sit here and think about it now, maybe if we had gotten out of the car and seen what happened,” he said.

“I’m going to have a hard time processing this, you say, ‘What if it had come out?’ And things could have been different. It’s little things like that that will affect me for a while. “

Jane Kippenberger, who has lived in the area for nearly four decades, said it was rare for such an incident to occur given the area’s traditionally calm waters.

The call for the Northland rescue helicopter added to what had been its busiest year in the service’s 32-year history. As of December 7, there had been 1,000 calls, beating the previous 2018 record of 999 calls.