The 74-year-old required medical assistance while walking along the Graveyard Gully riverside track. The track follows the Manuherikia River for a short distance and then the Clutha, on the opposite side of the river to the Roxburgh Gorge walking and cycling trail.
Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk, of Alexandra, said the woman needed medical assistance about 3km from Alexandra, and the ambulance staff who attended asked for help from the Alexandra Volunteer Fire Brigade to carry the woman out. Police and the Clyde Coastguard were also involved in the rescue.
``We thought it would be more comfortable and quicker for the patient if the Coastguard went in by boat and brought her out that way, by boat, rather than a group of people carrying her out for 3km in the 28-degree heat, in what is, at times, rugged terrain,'' Snr Sgt Kerrisk said.
The woman was conscious and able to talk to emergency service staff, he said.
Fortunately, there was cellphone and radio reception in the area.
A St John spokesman said it was a medical incident and the woman was taken to the Alexandra Medical Centre for treatment.
