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Chopper appeal begins

Published on October 21^st 2009, 10:33am

With a heart-felt “Thank you”, he handed his contribution to John Bain, chairman of the Northland Emergency Services Trust, which operates the rescue helicopters.

Mr Podesta was severely injured when on board a Tutukaka Coastguard boat which hit rocks in rough weather on March 4. He and the four other crew members - including another seriously hurt man - were plucked to safety by a rescue helicopter.

Mr Podesta, 50, was knocked unconscious in the collision at sea. He can’t recall anything of the ordeal, which left him blind in one eye and needing surgical reconstruction of his face.

He was off work for two months, but after a part-time start is now back working fulltime as a systems analyst for the Northland Regional Council and is lining up for more voluntary work with the Coastguard.

“I’m more than happy to do anything I can to help these [rescue helicopter] guys. They do a wonderful job,” Mr Podesta said.

The trust’s two Sikorsky S76 helicopters have given 450 Northland people emergency airlifts so far this year and Mr Bain said very few of them - unlike Mr Podesta - made donations acknowledging the rescue service.

The fundraising appeal raised $300,000 last year and Mr Bain said NEST needed a similarly successful collection this year to help maintain the helicopters and provide them with top-class equipment.

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The rescue service cost a total of $3.3 million to operate last year. It employs five pilots, an engineer and an office worker and has a large number of volunteers toiling in the background.

High-tech terrain awareness warning systems costing $250,000 each are to go into both Sikorskys, with the first installation expected to completed about April next year.

The theme of this year’s appeal is: “Every minute counts . . . so does every dollar!”

Newspaper and radio promotions for the fundraiser begin this week and official donation forms are to be dropped into every Northland mailbox next week.

Every dollar donated up to a total of $150,000 will be matched by a similar contribution from Northpower and Top Energy.

Mr Bain has been NEST chairman since the air rescue service was launched 21 years ago with a Bell Jetranger helicopter much smaller than the Sikorskys.

Nearly 10,000 people have been carried in the lifesaving aircraft since 1988.

Read the article on the Northern Advocate’s website.

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