A 26-year-old woman was flown to Dunedin Hospital with a suspected broken foot and suspected hypothermia yesterday after being trapped in a water race gate for three hours.
Glenavy Chief Fire Officer Bevin Joyce said the woman, who was a farm manager on the Glenavy-Tawai Rd property where she was injured, was working on the irrigation race when it appeared she slipped and got her foot caught under a race gate.
She was on the right side of the closed gate, so was only lying in a small amount of water.
She was discovered by a workmate, who went in search of her a few hours later, when he realised she had been gone for longer than she should have been.
Fire Service staff freed her from the gate about 6.30pm.
Mr Joyce said the woman was cold and in shock by the time emergency services reached her.
A St John spokesman said the woman was taken to Oamaru by ambulance and then flown to Dunedin.
