Last goodbyes in rocky ravine

Members of the Wanaka Alpine Cliff Rescue lifted Helen McClemmens to safety from a rock gut on the Cascade Saddle.

Four wilting bouquets garland a rocky ravine in Mt Aspiring National Park in the Southern Alps.

They were offered in grief by a father, mother and two sisters from Belfast, huddled on a 4.6C day.

The Deery family came to New Zealand to farewell a son and brother, killed as he saved a life.

They said goodbye as their helicopters made one last fly-past on the return to Queenstown.

This week saw the inquest into the death of Dr Donal Deery, 29, who gave his life in an act of bravery in January.

His partner, Helen McClemmens, slipped on soft snow and was heading for a precipice.

He reacted instinctively and dived on her in an attempt to halt the slide, but they both fell into a steep gully.

When they hit an outcrop, Ms McClemmens stayed fast but suffered serious back injuries. Dr Deery, who took the brunt of the fall, was unable to stop and dropped on to rocks several metres below.

Because of the location and the weather, it was a week before his body was recovered.

His partner was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital where she improved sufficiently to return to Belfast for further treatment. She will make a full recovery.

Dr Deery's body was flown home for burial in a family plot, mourned by hundreds.

"Hard though it is we're here to see the region and try to understand what happened, hoping it will help bring closure," said Deidre Deery, who, like her mother Monica, is a theatre nurse in Belfast's largest hospital. Her sister Loretta is an arts teacher in Bournemouth.

Francis Deery, 59, a self-employed builder, doesn't have nightmares because he cannot sleep but refuses medication, seeking solace in nicotine and friends.

He has left Ireland only twice before - on a one-day visit to Rome as a wedding anniversary gift from his children and an overnight in England at his daughter's graduation.

He recalls a son who never went flatting, preferring to live and swot at home.

"We knew from his exam results he would achieve his ambition to become a cardiologist," he said.

Dr Deery was due to take up a position at Christchurch Hospital following the climbing holiday.

His ambition was to remain in New Zealand. "The call of all those mountains was too strong", said Loretta.

The modest Belfast builder's yard which helped fund university studies is on the market.

"I can no longer work there," said Francis Deery, " ... too many memories".

He'll go back this weekend to a routine begun after the funeral.

Early every Saturday he drives alone an hour and a half to a relative's farm across the border to help with chores, then back for dinner.

A task accompanied by the memory of a high-achieving son and an hour among faraway mountains.