Choppers deployed after medical event

Southern Lakes Helicopters, assisted by Helicopter Otago, winched a man from expedition vessel The Spirit of Enderby near the Auckland Islands,  the largest of New Zealand’s subantarctic islands, after he suffered a medical event.

Operations manager for Southern Lakes Lloyd Matheson, based in Te Anau, said the man became ill while the vessel was sailing near the Campbell Islands on Wednesday, 300km south of Bluff.

But because of the distance and time of day, the crew were unable to launch a rescue straight away.

The vessel sailed northwards overnight and he was winched to safety on Thursday.

Anything more than 18.5km off shore required two aircraft, for safety reasons.

The helicopters flew out in tandem and took the man to Southland Hospital in Invercargill.