A seriously ill man had to be winched into a helicopter after he collapsed in dense forest at Butterfly Creek near Wellington this afternoon.
The paramedic was winched from about 36 metres above the track. Photo: Life Flight Trust
The man, who's in his 60s, was reported to be drifting in and out of consciousness in a valley where there was no cellphone reception.
The rescue helicopter's winch operator, Julian Burn, said they had to winch the man about 40 metres into the air.
"He was medically very unwell and we didn't really know that until our paramedic had gotten down to him, so we winched the paramedic down due to the fact we couldn't land and he assessed him and began some treatment and advised us by radio he was very sick."
Mr Burn said the man was taken to Wellington Hospital in a serious condition.
