Hypothermic canoeist winched to safety

A woman suffering hypothermia after falling into the Whanganui River from a canoe was this morning winched to safety by the Palmerston North rescue helicopter.

The middle-aged woman was part of a group of 16 people who left Ohakune yesterday and headed out on the river with a guide. She overturned her canoe as they headed toward John Coull Hut and began suffering from the wet and cold.

The group decided to stop overnight before reaching the hut and, still concerned about the woman's hypothermic condition, activated a locator beacon.

But the rescue helicopter was unable, because of bad weather, to reach the woman until this morning.

- NZPA