Caught out in the worst

Note - The below story contains themes of suicide.

The conditions were not suitable for civilian helicopters to collect the runners, but an NH90 helicopter was up for the task.

Stefan Ozich started a mission to raise $1 million dollars for men’s mental health charity Last Chance Project, by running from Cape Reinga to the Bluff and back again – covering more than 6,000km.

The project came about after the death of Stefan’s brother by suicide last year and the loss of a good friend in the same circumstances a year before that.

“I decided to do something that was quite extreme, not only to push my own body, but to raise as much money to help bring changes to the mental health sector because men are the most affected and least represented in it.”

He has so far raised nearly $100,000.

By Labour Day weekend Stefan with Sam Pendreigh, his pacer for many of the legs, had reached the Tararua Ranges. Stefan admitted before they set off they made a number of mistakes, including not bringing adequate gear to prepare for worsening conditions and failing to check the weather report.

The pair were caught out with conditions deteriorating badly and on an exposed ridge near Dracophyllum Hut, they battled strong winds, rain, hail, and sleet. 

“We were completely drenched. In that moment I was genuinely scared for my life because we were so exposed. We got to the hut and decided we couldn’t go on because the next mountain ridge was more exposed, longer and higher. We couldn’t go backwards either,” Stefan said.

“We were in a position where I was getting hypothermic, Sam was in a better condition. My emergency blanket had ripped, which made it worse. We ate food and tried to warm up, but for me it was futile. We realised we were compromised. We had no options. We had to make the tough call to call in for help.”

It was a relief when they heard the sound of the NH90 rotors.

“We heard the NH90 I felt like I was in some sort of army operation. It was intense, but such a relief.”

Sam’s father was a pilot in No. 3 Squadron and flew Iroquois helicopters during the Vietnam War rescuing people.

It was like a “full circle” being rescued by the same squadron dad was in, Sam said.

“It felt great to get out of there for sure. We knew we were in a shit situation, but we didn’t really want to admit it until it was too late.

“I’ve been in the Iroquois, but the NH90 was a lot more modern to fly in.”

Squadron Leader Andrew Stewart was piloting the NH90 for the rescue. It was the second successful rescue he had led that weekend, with the first winching a tramper to safety from the Ruahine Ranges. 

That flight was in wind reaching about 30 knots, which the NH90 could handle, but the turbulence in the mountains was too strong for some civilian helicopters.

During the rescue involving Stefan and Sam, Squadron Leader Stewart said there was a lot of heavy rain and low cloud.

“We wanted to complete the mission while it was still light. Our maintenance team did a fantastic job getting the helicopter ready extremely quickly, enabling us to complete the job just as it was getting dark. We were able to fly to a small helipad at the back of Dracophyllum Hut that we could just fit in to and land, and send a medic in to them.

“The guys were able to make their way to the helicopter. They were very cold, but didn’t need medical attention. Once we got them into the helicopter it was into heated blankets to warm them up. It was only about 4°C or 5°C, so it was pretty cold, the hut didn’t have a fireplace and they didn’t have sleeping bags.”

The biggest challenge for the flight was the reduced visibility, Squadron Leader Stewart said.

“It was very hard to see so we flew really low and slow on our way to the hut.

“By the end of the weekend we were pretty happy. The first job we were airborne for two hours and the second one we were airborne for an hour and a half – so just over three hours flying and we saved three people was a pretty rewarding thing to do for all those involved.”

Donate to Stefan Ozich’s charity run(external link)