No internal injuries relief for girl’s family

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Family of the 10-year-old girl seriously injured in a log incident on the beach along Centennial Marine Drive hope she will be flown home to Christchurch today.

Juliana Marston was playing on the two-tonne, 7.5-metre log at around 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon with two other youngsters when the mishap occurred. She was pinned by the log and her family had to dig her out of the sand to free her, then transport her to hospital.

Doctors found she had breaks to both sides of her pelvis.

“Juliana slept better last night in Gisborne Hospital and remains in a stable condition,” father Clint Marston said this morning.

“We’ve also been told by the doctors that she has no issues with any internal injuries, on top of the pelvic injuries, which is a major relief for us.”

Mr Marston said Juliana had been accepted by a doctor at Christchurch Hospital for further care.

“We’ve been told the flight team on a medical transfer flight will be in touch with us for the flight home. We hope that will happen today.”

The family have been  holidaying in Gisborne and will be returning home with her.

The council has urged people to exercise extreme care around city beaches as woody debris continues to wash up. Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said yesterday that further work to clean up the beaches would not happen again until after winter.

See: Breaks to both sides of pelvis after being struck, buried by log