Lowe rescue helicopter crewmen make a tricky landing at the snowbound Sunrise Hut in the Ruahine Ranges to rescue a woman with a broken shoulder
An accident-prone doctor was treated by her best friends in hospital after falling out of her bunk in her tramping hut.
The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter was called out at 8am after Kate Murran, 30, broke her arm at Sunrise Hut in the Ruahine National Park.
Murran and her friend Minnie Monteith, who are both doctors, had walked to the hut the previous day. At 2am Murran, who is Irish, got up to use the toilet but forgot she was on a 2m high bunk.
"I forgot I was in a bunk bed and stood up to go to the toilet then fell down and fractured my arm. It was pretty sore.
"We knew what to do so we didn't freak out too much.
"I pulled it and heard a click and thought it's either bone or I've got to put it back in place."
Kate Murran was treated by one of her best friends in the emergency room.
She said there was nothing they could do so they waited without painkillers until morning to call the rescue helicopter. This is the latest of her "weird injuries" Murran said she always hurts herself but this is the first time she's broken a bone.
"I think I'm just not very coordinated. I've got little scars everywhere."
Because of low cloud and two feet of snow the helicopter took the women straight to Hawke's Bay Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital. Which is where Murran had been working as a doctor in the Emergency Department. One of her best friends emergency department doctor Scotty Pearce treated her.
"I know all the staff. One of my best friends treated me. It was the best situation with all my friends looking after me.
"It was so sore I was quite glad it was fractured so I hadn't wasted everyone's time.
"I just feel very lucky to have my Kiwi family, I have had lots of visitors and flowers.
"It could have been a lot worse."
Murran fractured her humerus bone.
Rescue Helicopter general manager Ian Wilmot said the mission was made difficult by the thick cloud cover and snow obscuring the helipad.
The helicopter had to hover above the ground while one of the crew got out to find the landing pad.
"The pilot, as they approached, had the helicopter hovering above the ground and one crewman got out to stamp around in the snow until he found the landing pad. Then he guided the helicopter in."
The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter landing in the snow on top of the Ruahine Range to pick up a woman with a broken arm. Photo / Facebook
Wilmot says the walk usually takes three hours in good conditions but due to Murran's injuries a helicopter was the only option.
Murran was discharged still in her hospital gown this afternoon and has had to call in sick for her night shift.
