A diver has been flown to Christchurch with a suspected case of the bends.
The rescue helicopter crew said the man had ascended too quickly from a dive off Paraparaumu, on the Kapiti Coast.
He was treated by a Wellington Free Ambulance crew on the beach and then flown direct to Christchurch Hospital in a moderate condition.
Christchurch has a specialist Hyperbaric Medicine Unit that treats a range of conditions ranging from decompression sickness and air embolism to diabetic wounds and tissue damage.
