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Land Rescue Gertrude Saddle Track
Location: Gertrude Saddle Track
District: Southern
Land Rescue
Friday Nov 9
At about 12.30 pm today Te Anau police were advised of an accident on the Gertrude Saddle track in Fiordland. A 55 year old male fell several metres and injured his leg in steep terrain below Black Lake.
The partner of the injured man had made her way back down to the Milford road and used an emergency satellite phone at the Homer tunnel to raise the alarm.
A search and rescue response was mounted from Te Anau. A winch equipped Southern Lakes helicopter crewed with a doctor and paramedic flew to the site. They were able to hover-land allowing the medical crew to attend to the injured tramper.
The New Zealand resident had slipped and fallen while ascending steep, slippery rocks.
He was airlifted to Kew hospital in Invercargill suffering a broken leg.
Sergeant Tod Hollebon of Te Anau Police Search and Rescue stated that it was a good outcome for the tramper given the difficult terrain he was injured in and the forecast of heavy rain due to hit the Fiordland area later in the day.
Carrying an Emergency Locator Beacon would have given the couple a much faster response to the emergency situation they faced he said.
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