Hamill put his hand up to help raise awareness of the need for ongoing public donations after spending many weeks in Northland in recent times getting his catamaran ready for a family sailing adventure to the Pacific Islands and beyond.

He knows only too well how life can change in a split second having now lost three of his siblings to varying causes of death over the past 30 years. And after rowing over 4000km across the Atlantic Ocean in 1997, Hamill says he became acutely aware of how vulnerable people can be without help at hand.

“I am very privileged to be supporting the Northland Rescue Helicopter service because the work they do is amazing,” says Mr Hamill.

“What is particularly impressive is how they work together with St John, the Northland DHB, the emergency services throughout Northland and so many amazing volunteers. It has been said by many people before but you just never know when you might need the service and I am looking forward to taking part in some of the activities during the 2018 fundraising appeal.”

Northland Rescue Chopper General Manager Vanessa Furze says the service is thrilled to have Rob on board.

“We are so well represented by our ambassadors and they really are very important to helping raise the awareness of our need to raise funds to meet operational shortfalls over the busy summer months,” says Mrs Furze.

“Those public donations are just as crucial as the sponsorship we receive from Northpower ($100k annually) and Top Energy ($50k annually), plus all of our other sponsors, supporters – and of course the generous funding and ongoing support we receive from the Northland Regional Council.”

The Northland Rescue Helicopter Service has flown more than 20,000 missions since 1988 and has been instrumental in saving thousands of lives.

Until the end of November, the service will be involved in numerous activities throughout Kaipara and Whangarei to pay tribute to thousands of lives saved, and those lost, since the very first flight on November 17, 1988.

Meantime, the service’s fleet of rescue helicopters continue to clock up dozens of flights every month.

Back in 2011 the service completed 581 jobs compared to 901 in 2017. The flight tally for 2018 has already reached 718.