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Grant Matthew / Stuff
A mountain biker was airlifted to hospital after collapsing in Arapuke Forest Park on Monday afternoon.
A heroic act by a group of mountain bikers in a park south of Palmerston North may have saved the life of another cyclist.
A man collapsed in the Arapuke Forest Park on Monday afternoon, but a group of nearby cyclists performed CPR on him until a helicopter arrived to take him to hospital. The man is now recovering in the hospital.
Russell Brebner, a member of the Manawatū Mountain Bike Club, which is on the club’s trail committee, arrived at the park when the rescue helicopter landed.
Brebner said the man had been walking the trails only when he collapsed, but thankfully it was at a central point in the park with other people nearby.
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“This group of people, who were only mountain bikers, came to his aid and administered CPR effectively for at least 40 minutes …
“That team had done an incredible job keeping him alive, keeping his blood circulating and doing the things that needed to be done.”
He believed the Good Samaritans were from Whanganui and New Plymouth, and he said they rotated CPR shifts.
“It was just the general public. To jump, they are heroes in my book. What they did, they saved that man’s life. “
A person went down to the parking lot and brought the man’s wallet and phone for when he got into the helicopter.
Brebner praised the first responders who helped, St John, the Palmerston North rescue helicopter and a team of Linton firefighters.
The club recently installed emergency information signs around the park.
“We try to keep things as safe as possible in a sport that has inherent risk.”
Getting a defibrillator for the park was one of the club’s ideas.
The club’s Arapuke trail committee chairman Pete Wells said the club had posted safety signs around the park with information on what to do in an emergency.
He said that mountain biking could be a risky sport, so cyclists using Arapuke Park were told to call 111 in an emergency and get to a certain point to wait for emergency services.
There are over 30 miles of trails in the park, catering to varying skill levels.
