Family relieved as injured caver freed
Relevant offers
Paul Brewer, brother of rescued caver Michael
Brewer, said it was a wonderful feeling to have him out of the cave
he had been trapped in for two days.
View video
He said members of Mr Brewer's family around New Zealand waited up last night to get calls from Mr Brewer's wife Sarah that the torturous rescue was over.
"His two daughters Anna and Alix went into the cave with Sarah and they assisted in carrying him out for that last stage, which was lovely," said Mr Brewer, who is director of marketing and communications at Te Papa in Wellington.
He said the family was scattered around New Zealand and had kept in constant touch during the protracted rescue. He received a call from Sarah as Dr Brewer was being airlifted from the scene.
Dr Brewer is in Nelson Hospital after being freed from the Takaka caving system at about 1am today.
The Motueka GP was carried from the caves on a stretcher, with a group of about 15 rescuers.
He was taken straight to a waiting rescue helicopter where he was stabilised before being flown to hospital.
The family grew up in Christchurch and has links with Taranaki where Dr Brewer's mother now lives.
"I have been down with him and I knew exactly how difficult it would be to bring him out," said Paul Brewer.
He said the rescue effort was incredibly difficult and complex.
"I just take my hat off to the amazing help that he received from well over 70 rescuers," he said.
Dr Brewer and his wife loved the outdoors. "They are great kayakers, trampers, climbers and cavers and Michael is an extremely experienced caver," Paul Brewer said.
The doctor treating Dr Brewer underground was quoted on Radio New Zealand saying Dr Brewer did not have life threatening injuries. He had concussion and was cold, dehydrated and hungry when she first assessed him.
One of Dr Brewer's rescuers, Leo Viersna of Richmond, who spent 12 - 13 hours helping get Dr Brewer out of the caves, described the operation as cold and wet.
"There was a lot of pushing and pulling and inching forward and there were some areas we had to get him off the stretcher. It wouldn't have been comfortable but we had to get him out.
"Michael is a very lucky man, it could have been a lot worse."
Mr Viersna said the caving community was extremely close knit and if one of them got into trouble, cavers from around New Zealand would show up to help out.
Rescue teams involving around 50 cavers from throughout New Zealand have been working round the clock to bring Dr Brewer through the complex cave system.
Dr Brewer was one of four cavers exploring and surveying the Green Link/Middle Earth cave system on the Takaka Hill, near Nelson, when he was hit by falling rocks about 5pm on Saturday.
Two cavers went and raised the alarm while another remained with 47-year-old Dr Brewer, an experienced caver.
Dr Brewer suffered suspected cracked ribs, concussion, and a broken pelvis in the incident, which happened about 3km into the caving system – a distance which usually takes about five hours to travel.
District Search and Rescue coordinator Inspector Hugh Flower said 14 teams of rescuers used ropes and rigging equipment to "squeeze" Brewer through the complex limestone cave system.
At some points, too narrow to negotiate the stretcher, rescuers had to lie on the ground and pass Dr Brewer over their bodies.
Progress had been slow but steady.
Flower said Dr Brewer had been given pain relief and did well, even directing the cavers at points along the journey, he said.
Flower said the rescue operation got under way at 5am yesterday and some rescuers worked underground for 20 hours before being relieved at noon on Monday.
Flower said the rescue was one of the most technically challenging missions Nelson's Search and Rescue team had been involved in.
A caver with 20 years' experience in Takaka and on the West Coast, Brewer has himself been involved in every cave rescue in the region in recent years.
A recue team reached Brewer and established communications via an underground "michie" phone about 5.30pm on Sunday, and Brewer was able to speak with his wife and teenage daughters.
His wife Sarah was also a caver, and usually helped with search and rescues in the area.
For this rescue, however, she was remained on the surface with the couple's two teenage daughters.
Brewer said her husband could not remember what happened and was unsure whether he suffered his injuries when he was hit by a rock or in a subsequent fall. The rock which hit him, causing him to lose his footing, measured 1m by 30cm.
Brewer said she was grateful to the cavers who had rushed to Nelson from throughout the country to help with what would be a complex mission.
"There's basically everyone you'd want to be rescuing you turned up to help. "I know the systems, I know how things work, I know all the people that are involved and the response from the cavers has just been fantastic," Brewer said .
She said her husband had been in the caving system dozens of times, and while he had been trapped by floodwaters before, he had never before been immobilised by injury while caving.
- With NZPA
Click on the player to activate then click play to hear Nelson Mail reporter Kiran Chug interviewing injured caver Michael Brewer from his bed at Nelson hospital.
Sponsored links
All Blacks beat England in dour test
Concern over missing South Auckland teen and baby
Police dob in drink driver to Air NZ
Lawyer backs down over drink-drive website
Hundreds march over government inaction
Memorial service for shooting victim
Mother of separated twins: 'We don't want them back'
NSW prepares for more extreme heat
Praying for Ben after explosion
