Very, very fortunate is how rescuers are describing an elderly Alzheimer's sufferer who survived several hours partially submerged in the ice cold water of a stream in Ngaruawahia overnight.
Sergeant Phil Bell of the Waikato Police Search and Rescue (SAR) squad said the 67-year-old man left his Ngaruawahia home for a walk about 5pm and was last seen by a neighbour about 5.30pm.
"We understand he does the 6km walk twice a day and follows a number of walkways along the Waipa and Waikato Rivers.
"When he failed to return home around the usual time people began to get worried and Police were called in about 8.35pm."
Mr Bell said it was fortunate both the Police SAR squad and the civilian Hamilton SAR team happened to be together on an exercise near Kawhia at the time the call came in.
"This enabled us to get a good numbers of searchers on the ground and begin searching both rivers' banks and other possible areas for the man."
The man was found about 2.30am in a small stream near the bottom of Eagle St, adjacent to the Waipa River.
"It appears he'd fallen through a safety rail on a small footbridge and become stuck in the muddy water. He told us he was frantically crying out for help but no-one heard him and the more he struggled the deeper he went into the water.
"When found the man had one shoulder under the water, that he survived for so long in the cold conditions is very, very fortunate," said Mr Bell.
The man was carried by stretcher to a waiting ambulance and taken to Waikato Hospital to undergo treatment for hypothermia.
"It was quite an involved exercise extracting the man and credit needs to go out to the Police and civilian SAR staff alike who braved extremely cold conditions to ensure the successful recovery of the man," said Mr Bell.
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