Christmas gift for rescue crew from chopper-loving James

A long-time supporter of the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter, James Moore called into the hangar on Saturday to bring special gifts for the team — some chocolates and cash.Picture supplied

James Moore will turn 14 just before Christmas but this year he decided someone else should get the presents.

When most people were relaxing on Saturday morning, James was writing a Christmas card and raiding his pocket money to buy chocolates for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team, and to give a $20 donation to the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust (EHRT).

“Kids with autism can get fixated on things and for James it’s always been emergency services . . . firefighters, ambulances and especially rescue helicopters,” says dad Justin, who accompanied James to the hangar to make his donation.

“Where we live we can often hear the helicopter landing at Gisborne Hospital and he is fascinated by it every single time.”

James’ Saturday morning visit to the hangar at Gisborne Airport was not his first.

In the weeks after Cyclone Gabrielle, Justin spent time at the airport as he had often been flown by helicopter to his work as Ruatoria’s rural police officer.

“In those early days we still didn’t have decent internet so we’d park outside the hangar and, with the team’s permission, use the wifi they had installed,” Justin says.

“One day they returned from a job and invited us in, so James ended up having a feed and a good chat while I got on with my work.”

In terms of being a community champion, James and his three siblings have good examples right at home.

Justin and wife Laurelle have been involved in taxing step and stair challenges to raise funds for organisations from Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ to the Fred Hollows Foundation.

And Justin has had a few saves himself.

In January, as Cyclone Hale was bearing down the East Coast, he helped rescue a family of three whose car had become stuck in a swollen and dangerous river near Ruatoria.

“James has always been a really kind person in himself and we’re very proud of him,” Justin says.

“The moment we got home from the hangar he was video-calling a friend, who also loves helicopters, to say he’d send some of the stickers the team had given him.

“He’s just like that.”

In the card James had made himself, he thanked the team for their service “and for saving so many lives”.

“I just want to recognise all the hard work your team has done this year, especially during Cyclone Gabrielle,” he wrote. “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”

The chopper’s mission log from Monday, November 27, indicates six completed missions.

At 3.55pm that day they were called to a medical event at Ruatoria from where the patient was flown in a stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.

On Thursday (2pm) they returned to Ruatoria for another medical event — the patient again flown in a stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.

At 9.40am on Friday they were dispatched to a medical event at Haupoto with the patient, who was also stable, flown to Whakatane Hospital.

Later that same day (4.46pm) they responded to a medical event at Te Kaha, again flying the patient in a stable condition to Whakatane Hospital.

On Saturday they had a midday call-out to a trauma at Waikura Valley from where the patient was flown in a stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.

And that evening (7pm) they attended another trauma, this time at Ruatoria, with the patient again flown in a stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.