The accident occurred at 9pm up the Jackson River Road, however emergency services were not notified until just after midnight when one of the occupants made it to the Arawhata River bridge, where they were able to get a cellphone signal.
Seven firefighters, two St John staff, one PRIME nurse and the local policeman attended, as did two rescue helicopters from Queenstown.
Senior sergeant Nathan Snell, of Greymouth police, said the group had travelled well past the 'road closed' sign before the driver lost control close to the Martyr Saddle — about 8km past the closure — and the vehicle rolled 15m into a creek.
The driver was ejected from the vehicle and the 4WD landed upright in the creek bed.
The injured man was moved out of the water into the back seat of the vehicle by his friends.
"He was pretty banged up."
Mr Snell was incredulous: "The fact there were no fatalities is mind blowing."
Haast fire chief Adam Cowan said the four men were all locals and only three were wearing seatbelts.
One walked for three hours to get phone service, which he found near the Arawhata River.
Two Otago Southland Rescue Helicopters responded to the call but only one was needed, and the injured man was flown to Dunedin Hospital with suspected spine and rib fractures.
The weather at the time was "mild" but cloudy and the threat of rain put tight windows on the helicopter rescue, which had to winch a paramedic down into the narrow scene to assess the injured man.
The man and paramedic were then winched back into the helicopter.
A St John spokesman said one other person required hospital treatment.
Police and firefighters remained at the scene until nearly 5am.
The gravelled Jackson River Rd, which leads to Lake Ellery and the Cascade Valley, was closed by the Westland District Council due to severe storm damage earlier this year, and just the first 7km was partially reopened.
The vehicle, a Nissan Patrol, is yet to be recovered from the crash scene.
Police have requested a blood test from the driver as a part of their investigation.
- Meg Fulford
