THEY SAVED ME

John Tame.

“I was trying to cross a bluff in the dark and I just fell into blackness.”

In July this year, Golden Bay tramper John Tame thought he would cross a local tramp off his ‘bucket list’ - heading off up into the Kahurangi National Park for an overnight trip to Boulder Lake Hut – whilst his wife was away in Auckland for the weekend.

“I’d recently re-invigorated my interest in tramping, doing the Heaphy and a few other local tramps, so this seemed like a good idea, but it turned out to be a poor decision.”

The tramp to Boulder Lake is a route rather than a track, suitable for advanced fit trampers. The DoC website gives it a guide time of 8-10 hours. It meanders through farmland before a steady climb to a ridge, and then steeper, more challenging route finding along Brown Cow Ridge, and over Cow Saddle before dropping down into the Boulder River valley to the lake.

John said he stated late – an hour and a half later than planned – but decided to go anyway.  

Things started well enough with the steady climb up to the ridge, but it took longer than expected and the track got more and more gnarly as he went up. John was worried about water, as he had read there was none on the track until the lake.

“It got harder to find the route and I kept getting off track, which took time, energy and water. When I got to what I thought was the main ridge there was snow and ice under-foot, but I couldn’t see any orange markers.”

“I had been going for about 8 hours, it was about 8pm at night and I had a torch and a headlamp and spare batteries so I thought I would be better to keep going. I reasoned that the carpark was 8 hours behind me in the dark and that the lake had to be down there somewhere – and I was getting low on water so that was becoming an issue – the lake would be my best option.

John started heading down hoping he would make his way safely to the lake. The terrain soon became treacherous and in the middle of the night he came across a river.

“I was bush bashing at this stage. I had to keep moving because it was getting pretty cold but I had numerous falls and lost my map.. 

“Then, I was trying to cross a bluff in the dark and I just fell into blackness.”

The fall took John a moment to process – he landed on his feet, but his head torch was ripped off. The force of the fall with a full pack pulled him over and he ended up on the ground wondering if he would be able to walk.

“I felt the jolt in my back so didn’t know what damage I had done. But I gave my toes a wiggle and they seemed to be working. I still had a spare torch in my pocket, and I managed to retrieve that, and find my head torch and hat so I was able to get up and keep going for another hour. Then I had enough so I propped myself against a branch to wait for daylight.

“I must have nodded off because the next thing was daylight, and when I looked out across through the trees I could see a valley, and in that valley, I saw a convoy of army guys.”

John decided he needed to keep going as help was not far away, so he hoisted his pack and set off to try and find his way down to the river. During the day he saw plenty of signs of civilization that encouraged him to keep going. “There were trampers, a man walking his dog, a dam and a spillway, vehicles, a farmer with a dog moving cattle and a woman with two girls out for a walk.”

John kept setting off to reach the people and landmarks he could see, only to find they were not where he thought they were. He would think he had gone too far and retrace his steps to where he had seen them. They would re-appear, and, in some cases, John called out asking for directions to get across the river to the valley but got no response. So, he would set off only to get lost again.

Eventually he made it down to a riverbed. He passed what appeared to be large artificial boulders, not unlike igloos, with lights inside.

“I could see a visitor centre and car park on the other side. I found a lean-to on the riverbank, so I dropped my pack there and walked back to an ‘igloo’ and shouted out to see If I could get across, but again there was no response.”

“I decided I would pitch there for the night and see if it was safe to cross the river in the morning to make my way out.

John put on all his clothes and wrapped himself up in a sleeping bag inside the hut – which was in fact just an overhanging rock. He says he slept quite well, and when he woke it was about 8.30am and daylight.

“It slowly became obvious to me that there was no carpark or visitor centre just across the river.”

He found it hard to eat – the food just would not go down, but he managed to make himself a cup of hot soup, and it started to dawn on him that he was in a bad way and needed help.’

“I realized people would have started to worry about me, and I had no strength left. I was beaten up and my clothes were torn, and I was not going to get out on my own. For some reason the sleep and the little bit of food had cleared the hallucinations I’d had the day before, and I decided I should set off my beacon.”

 John had hired the beacon for the trip but had not used earlier it as his mental state meant he thought he could get out on his own.

 He found his high vis vest and draped it over a rock in the river and set off the beacon. The rescue service had already been notified that he was missing, and the helicopter had flown over that area early in the morning, but he hadn’t heard it. Once they had his coordinates from the beacon the spotted his high-vis clothing on the rocks and were able to send a paramedic down to assess him.

John was winched into the helicopter. His vital signs showed he was in a bad way with a body temperature of 32 degree celcius. He was found to have severe dehydration, kidney and liver damage, hypothermia, a stress fracture in his spine from the fall and muscle death. He’d been out in temperatures of -5 to -10 degrees, suffered from sleep deprivation and was bruised, cut and battered from his battle with the bush.

John spent three days in Nelson Hospital, as they brought his body temperature and fluids up to normal levels and dealt with his injuries. He said the full recovery will take longer, as he has started to understand the impact of hypothermia and dehydration on his behaviour, which saw him keeping going long after he should have set off his beacon for help.

The fact he had a beacon, and was able to set if off, saved his life. The helicopter couldn’t land but the technology in board enabled them to send a man down to him and winch him safely out of the bush.

“This experience has had a lasting impact on me. I was so relieved when I heard the helicopter, and they were able to get to me. I am just grateful that I got out and that they were able to find and save me.”