Fire guides rescue flight

TO THE RESCUE: Heliscene pilot Terry Easthope reunited a mum with her sick son on Great Barrier Island.

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In what looked like a scene from a Survivor episode, a helicopter was guided to its destination by a fire and torches after a young boy fell ill on Great Barrier Island.

Waiheke's Carwyn Blosch, 11, suffered a fever, racing heart and continuous vomiting and when asked by mum Liz over the phone how bad he felt, he rated it 10 out of 10.

"That's when I knew it was serious because he gets a lot of migraines and is sick a lot with them but he never rates himself that bad," Ms Blosch says.

Carwyn was with a group of children and adults on a survival trip at Rosalie Bay.

The group led by Matt Lindegreen had been dropped off by boat, making a trip to a doctor impossible.

"Matt was taking great care of Carwyn," Ms Blosch says.

But she made the decision to get him home.

After a phone call she was on her way to Great Barrier Island with Waiheke's helicopter service Heliscene, in the capable hands of pilot Terry Easthope.

"He was fabulous. It was 7pm and he said: `Yep, but we have to take off sooner rather than later'," Ms Blosch says.

Mr Easthope guided the helicopter into the remote bay using the lights of an open fire and torches before heading back to Waiheke.

Dr Barnett Bond prescribed anti-nausea tablets and suggested it could have been caused by shellfish, Ms Blosch says.

"Carwyn lost about 3kg in just a few days and he's only 30kg. Even Terry was surprised how ill he looked when he saw him."

The team on Great Barrier were fabulous, Ms Blosch says.

"It was just unfortunate he got so sick. If they do the trip again next year I wouldn't hesitate to let him go."

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