TE AWAMUTU NEWS | 1
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
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SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
Chopper heroes thanked
Two Waipā men who survived the ill-fated Enchanter charter boat tragedy off North Cape in March have returned to publicly thank the helicopter heroes who pulled them from the sea off North Cape in March. In Newshub Investigates: The Enchanter Tragedy which aired last night on Three, the big game recreational fishermen described how the 16.5-metre vessel was flipped by a rogue wave on the return journey from Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands. Te Awamutu herd tester Shay Ward survived, as did beekeeper Ben Stinson from Cambridge and Putāruru contract supervisor Jayde Cook. Five others died - Group One Turf Bar owner Richard Bright, 63, the Oaks handyman Mike Lovett, 72, along with
grandfather Geoff Allen, 72, his son-in-law Mark “Skid” Walker, and Te Awamutu resident Mark “Sando” Sanders, 43. Enchanter’s skipper Lance Goodhew, one of the five rescued, is under investigation by Maritime New Zealand and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and declined to be part of the One-Hour Special. His deckhand Kobe O’Neill joined Ward, Stinson, and Cook, paying tribute to the first rescuers to reach them after four hours in the ocean. “Those guys at Northern Rescue Helicopters are amazing. We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them,” said Cook. “What they did to get us out of the water and to find the other guys eventually was amazing. I owe them everything,” Stinson
added. Newshub was there as two of the Waikato survivors and the deckhand visited the Whangarei base of the Northland Rescue Helicopter crew. The men say they are “indebted” to pilot Lance Donnelly, co-pilot Alex Hunt, winch operator Paul Davis and rescue swimmer Josh Raravula. Donnelly, visibly touched by the reunion, said: “It’s really special, we don’t see people we rescue very often, so yeah it’s really good to have them visit.” The 10 men were on the “big game fishing trip of a lifetime” with Enchanter Fishing, when Goodhew’s charter boat hit trouble 20 minutes from where they were due to drop anchor for the night.
Goodhew has faced criticism for taking the charter out as a major storm was hitting Northland and Auckland, but the survivors are speaking out saying there are lots of misconceptions about the trip and they “want to set the record straight” and thank those who gave them another shot at life. “It was relief, almost disbelief at what we had just been through and survived,” remembers Ward - who said the rescue was “certainly not like the American movies where you get Ashton Kutcher jump out of a helicopter in a basket - it’s literally a person swimming in the water on a wire rope”. They’re now launching a fundraising campaign to buy ballistics helmets, priced at $5000 each, for the Whangarei-based helicopter crew.
All hail Hazel By Mary Anne Gill
Two long-serving councillors with a collective 45 years’ service on behalf of Waipā district gave their farewell speeches behind closed doors this week. Hazel Barnes of Kihikihi and Grahame Webber of Cambridge were first elected to council in 2001 and 2004. Barnes had served six years on the Te Awamutu Community Board before that. At the farewell luncheon, held after the last council meeting of the term in Te Awamutu on Tuesday, they were presented with gifts from the council. Both have struggled with ill-health in recent times – Barnes, 83, is recovering from surgery complications and Webber, 74, is battling myeloma cancer and Barnes received Ngutu Huia, a jade pounamu carved by Hamilton artist Alex Sands, while Webber got an original watercolour of Cambridge Town Clock and Town Hall painted by Gavin R Smith of Te Awamutu. Hazel Barnes sits down for her last district council meeting wearing the jade pounamu given to her in recognition of 24 years’ service to Waipā. Greeting her is Cr Lou Brown. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
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