Two people have been rescued — including one found unresponsive in the water — after a paraglider overshot a landing and plunged in the sea off the coast of Christchurch.
It was fortunate timing for a mishap — with Coastguard volunteers at hand, having just attended an ANZAC Day service.
St John was notified at 11.55am to the incident at Taylors Mistake and responded with two ambulances, two managers, one first response unit and a helicopter.
Two patients were assessed “one was uninjured and the other was treated and transported to Christchurch Hospital in a serious condition,” St John said.
Police said services were deployed to reach the paragliders after receiving reports around 11.50am.
Coastguard NZ said 20 volunteers in all responded to the incident, both on the water and on shore.
“Coastguard volunteers had just attended the local ANZAC Day service in Sumner and were gathered outside the site of the old RSA when the call came through, enabling a rapid response.”
Two coastguards took to the water and found one individual initially unresponsive but breathing.
They freed them from their parachute and transferred the patient to FENZ who assisted in taking them to an ambulance.
Taylors Mistake is a bay on the northern edge of Banks Peninsula on the southeastern side of Christchurch.
