A letter of appreciation was recently received by the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) related to a successful rescue using a Cospas-Sarsat approved personal locator beacon (PLB).
Dear Rescue Coordination Centre,
Thank you so much for doing your part in saving my life.
On Wednesday, 28 April 2021 I crossed Dore Pass from the Eglinton Valley.
Route-finding was difficult due to recent snow and the state of the route marking.
Traversing across to the Glade House descent spur I lost the route on the northernmost set of bluffs.
Following chamois tracks, I lost my footing and slid 15 metres before self-arresting.
I was left with a single, tiny foothold on a steep slope 25 metres above major bluffs.
With no safe option to move in any direction, I set off my PLB.
An hour later a helicopter got to the area and found me.
Within 30 minutes I had been winched off the mountainside and taken to the helipad at Clinton Hut.
The pick-up felt quick, safe, efficient and very, very comforting.
For the first time in decades of backcountry tramping I really needed outside expert emergency help and that’s exactly what I got.
Thank you all at RCC for being part of the chain of LandSAR people and technology that got me home safely.
You did save my life.
I’m really grateful and impressed by how you dealt with my PLB contact person.
I am her husband.
She tells me you stayed in frequent contact with her, telling her immediately of progress and relaying the latest news from the rescue helicopter.
This was a true comfort to her and our son.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!