Jeremy was a long way from help.
At 735 hectares, the Monowai Station sheep and beef farm he leases with wife Laura is a good size so he was around half-an-hour from the homestead, which is itself more than 20 minutes from Gisborne city.
The good thing was he was carrying a mobile phone and was able to call Laura.
The not-so-good thing was, farmers being farmers, he decided to roll the 400-kilogram bike off his legs and attempt to walk down the hill.
“In hindsight that probably wasn’t the best idea as I already know my ankle was pretty unstable.
“But by using the shovel as an aid I did manage to get a couple of hundred of metres along the track before the pain kicked into overdrive and I went into shock.”
By that time Laura had arrived and, quickly spotting that her husband was in no state to be riding the bike back home, contacted emergency services.
“I was pretty out of it by then but it seemed like the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter was there in 10 minutes.”
While the team arrived in record time, it was no easy rescue.
Jeremy’s location on a steep slope meant they had to land on the side of the hill in windy conditions.
“It was amazing how close they managed to get to me and the critical care flight paramedic was quick to administer pain relief, check my injuries and make me as comfortable as he could.
“I just feel incredibly lucky to have got that level of care, that fast.”
More help was to come as Gisborne Hospital was just minutes away by air and the patient was safely handed over for further treatment.
“As it turned out Jeremy was very lucky with no broken bones — just nerve damage and lots and lots of bruising,” Laura said.
“We are just so grateful to the team who came out to Waimatā Valley to pick him up when he needed them.”
Jeremy had to wear a moon boot to stop his foot from dropping and tripping him up.
However, he admits to temporarily ditching it a couple of days later when he and Laura took the stage to accept two category awards at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
“I just strapped my ankle up under my dress boots and made sure I had enough pain medication under my belt, so I didn’t need any wine on the night,” he said.
“My parents had come all the way from the South Island to attend the awards ceremony with us, which they did, but they also had to help with the dipping and crutching while I was hopping around and that certainly wasn’t in the plan.”
A week after the accident Jeremy was back at Gisborne Hospital to get his nerve damage assessed and undergo further treatment.
“In the end I didn’t have to have surgery, so I was lucky, no doubt about it.
“Anything can happen on a farm and you can often be a long way from help, so the rescue helicopter is a godsend,” he said.
But he already knew that.
“Laura’s dad had been picked up by the rescue helicopter after falling from his horse, so for years our family has got behind the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust’s annual charity auction night.
“One thing’s for sure . . . we’re definitely going to be there this year.”
Crew in action six of seven days
The Eastland Rescue Helicopter mission log for the week to Sunday shows rescue activity for the Gisborne-based team on six of the seven days.
April 1, 11pm: The crew responded to a medical event at Wairoa where their onboard critical care flight paramedic assessed and treated the patient, who was flown in stable condition to Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital.
April 2, 8am: They were in Hastings overnight and in the morning joined a search over the ocean, where it had been reported a fishing vessel crew member had gone overboard 11km offshore of Waimārama at about 8pm on Monday.
The team conducted three search cycles — each of nearly two hours — hot refuelling between search periods. They were stood down just before 3pm and left for Gisborne an hour later.
In the interim, a rescue helicopter was seconded from Taupō to undertake a mission to Tokomaru Bay (dispatched 1pm), with the patient brought to Gisborne Hospital.
April 3, 1.08pm: The crew was called to a medical event at Hicks Bay where their on-board critical care flight paramedic assessed and treated the patient, then flew the person in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.
April 4, 6.52pm: They were again dispatched to a medical event at Hicks Bay where their critical care flight paramedic assessed and treated the patient, who was then taken in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.
April 5, 4.30pm: There was a medical event at Tikitiki where their critical care flight paramedic assessed and treated the patient, who did not require transport.
April 6, 1.39am: They responded to a medical event at Hicks Bay where the on-board critical care flight paramedic assessed and treated the patient, who was flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.
