The Byrne Family
After a medical incident at the wheel, the Byrne family narrowly avoided two head-on collisions and their car left the road at 127kms and then rolled six times across a paddock. By some miracle they were alive, and their fate was now in the hands of the Rescue Helicopter Service and New Zealand Flying Doctors.
Grace was in critical condition with a fractured skull – she was taken by the local Rescue Helicopter Service to Wellington and then onto Starship Hospital in Auckland by the NZ Flying Doctor Service once she had stabilised. Steve was taken to Wellington Hospital suffering from brain bleeds. Dianne had a broken wrist and suspected fracture of her spine, and she and Evan were transported to the local hospital.
Incredibly, the family have managed to overcome all of their injuries and continue to support our work and the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust by being Community Ambassadors.