Mud sluices man into harbour

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

Colin Ratlidge was to join his mate down Ohiwa Harbour Rd near Opotiki on Saturday to watch the All Blacks play the Wallabies.

Instead, he and his little dog spent several hours trapped in thick mud in Ohiwa Harbour with high tide approaching.

When the 74-year-old former art teacher rang his friend Thomas O'Shaughnessy mid-afternoon, he mentioned that he was a bit worried about slips around his hillside home after the continual heavy rain.

"He wanted to get out of there so I said stay the night," Mr O'Shaughnessy (77) said yesterday.

But as the evening wore on there was no sign of his friend.

Unable to get his car out of the steep driveway, Mr Ratlidge had set off with his King Charles spaniel Chelsea to walk the 300m to Mr O'Shaughnessy's house.

Less than 20m along the way, the pair were caught by a mudslide and carried across the road into the harbour. It was pitch dark and cold.

A worried Mr O'Shaughnessy telephoned Mr Ratlidge's neighbour, public health nurse Terri Webby, who went next door to look for him.

Meanwhile another neighbour - known only as Hugh - had gone out onto his deck overlooking the harbour and heard cries for help.

Grabbing a torch, he headed down the hill and found Mr Ratlidge trapped in mud and salt water.

He had just managed to get the frozen and disoriented man home when Ms Webby arrived. Both men were covered in so much mud she could barely recognise them.

After cutting off Mr Ratlidge's gumboots, they put him under a hot shower.

Worried about further slips from above the house, Ms Webby said they wanted to get out as soon as possible.

"We could hear trees cracking and the house creaking."

Then she remembered Chelsea.

The elderly spaniel, still on her lead, was buried in mud with only her snout showing and the waves were washing over her.

Hugh helped Mr Ratlidge to her place and she carried the terrified dog, which slept on Mr Ratlidge's bed overnight.

The Tenon rescue helicopter lifted him to Whakatane Hospital where he was recovering yesterday from shock and hypothermia.

He could remember nothing of what happened.

At the Ohiwa Family Holiday Park, Lana and Phil Morgan were having their own problems, with slips taking out an amenities block and sheds.

Their son Todd took his kayak around the big Harbour Rd slip to try and get Chelsea, whose presence was not welcomed by Ms Webby's dog Betsy.

Chelsea eventually had her own helicopter rescue ride to Mr O'Shaughnessy's place near the holiday park.

"She's settled in quite nicely. I've left a message at the hospital to tell Colin she will be fine until he gets back," said Mr O'Shaughnessy

From Whakatane Hospital yesterday afternoon Colin Ratlidge said he remembered little of his ordeal.

"Three hours in the mud and water and I don't remember anything."

Mr Ratlidge attributes the memory loss to either hypothermia or a bang on the head.

"I should have drowned in that mud. All my ex-students will be laughing their heads off."

Mr Ratlidge, who is an experienced tramper who used to take his students on expeditions, said it was a shock to be on the receiving end of a rescue.

He is active and fit but has been slowed down by arthritis.

"The arthritis stops me from ripping around, but I'm as fit as anyone my age."

His greatest relief is that his 17-year-old dog Chelsea was also rescued.

"All that was sticking out of the mud was her nose."

Mr Ratlidge expects to be discharged from hospital today and will go and stay with his son who lives near Rotorua while he recovers.

"It's good to have a timely reminder that these things can happen."