LandSAR volunteer Rob Bigwood shares warning ahead of winter tramping season

Friday, 10 May 2019

Rob Bigwood's bag is always packed with enough food, water and shelter to last three days. All he has to do is sling it on his back and run.

When he got the call a that a mountain runner was in trouble in the Otaki Forks area on Easter Sunday he didn't waste time responding.

Knowing there wasn't much time to act, he phoned the search organiser to get permission to run ahead of the group who were congregating in Levin.

If Bigwood runs ahead of the search group – which he does occasionally – he usually takes another person with him. But this time he knew they were on borrowed time.

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'Something in the back of my head said we had to move.'

A helicopter collected Bigwood near the entrance to the park and dropped him in the cloud line.

Thankful he had bought new boots that morning – but concerned he may not get there in time – he began to run.

'You are always scared about the risk of hypothermia with a mountain runner because they usually don't carry much clothing.'

When the cloud cleared, helicopter pilot Jason Diedrichs joined the search and spotted the woman's camelbak. Diedrichs picked Bigwood up, and perched on a small clearing to drop him closer to the woman.

'I looked at her and knew she was not in a good way. She clung onto me like she was my 10-year-old daughter.'

Bigwood with his father, experienced LandSAR volunteer Noel Bigwood.

'She was passing out and her breathing would go shallow. I have seen people hypothermic before, and she was as bad as they get.'

The woman made a full recovery and was released from hospital later that night.

It was the most recent case where Bigwood has responded as part of the Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) team based in Otaki.

Over the Easter weekend there were upwards of six separate rescue missions within the Tararau region.

'People can get into trouble so easily. Even skilled outdoors people can be doing everything right and find themselves in tricky situations.'

Bigwood is speaking up following his Easter rescue in the hope people will pay extra attention in the outdoors as the winter months approach.

As winter approaches, Rob Bigwood hopes people will pay extra attention in the outdoors.

'We will always come looking for you, but it's best if you don't end up in that situation. Preparing for the worse-case scenario will help bring about the best.'

For as long as Bigwood can remember he has been taking part in searches. His father, Noel Bigwood, has more than 40 years' experience leading and coordinating searches throughout the Tararuas. 'There are pictures of me strapped to my Dad's back in the ranges.'

He has participated in almost 100 missions – in all but one LandSAR has been able to return the person, either dead or alive, to their loved ones.

He credits that success rate to the volunteers he works with. 'They can lead a team so well they don't even have to say anything.'

The calls always come out of the blue, and often at inconvenient times.

Rob Bigwood pictured on a LandSAR mission. He has been on almost 100 searches during his time volunteering.

'On three separate incidents my wife and I have sat down in a restaurant and I have got the call to go. The last one was our anniversary.'

There are countless rescues Bigwood remembers.

In 2011, LandSAR teams were sent into the Tararuas to search for a young man. As time wore on, it become clear that the man did not want to be found.

'I caught up with him … He said, 'I had no idea anyone was looking for me'. At that point an iroquois flew over the valley.'

'I said, 'You didn't hear that over for the last three days?'

Mary Berrington vanished from Upper Hutt in 2016. Bigwood says it was frustrating not being able to bring her home to her family.

When they landed in Levin the man's family raced towards them.

'The family came rushing up, past him and hugged me. They didn't want a bar of him but I got this massive hug.'

The case of missing woman Mary Berrington has always frustrated Bigwood. Berrington vanished from Upper Hutt in June 2016.

An extensive search was undertaken but she was never found.

'Why she never turned up will bug me all my life.'

His advice to people heading out into the bush is always the same - tell people your intentions, keep a personal locator beacon and prepare for the unexpected.

Lack of skill isn't always the problem, he says, sometimes people just make a small mistake which can be fatal.

'We have this amazing country, and we should enjoy it because we are Kiwis. We just need to be careful.'