Please attribute to Area Commander Lincoln Sycamore
Yesterday at about 2.20pm, Police were called to reports of two people in danger out at sea off Marine Parade, Napier.
A man and a woman had been swept out to sea from an outlet pipe they were standing on, by a large wave and they had been struggling in the sea for quite some time in huge swells and very cold water.
The Coastguard was called in to assist and a helicopter was enroute.
Two police officers entered the water opposite the war memorial and swam out to the stranded woman approximately 100metres out from the shore.
One officer, a qualified surf lifesaver, fortunately had a wetsuit to hand.
The man made it back to shore prior to Police arrival. The two officers stayed with the woman in the water to wait for assistance.
Shortly after arriving at the scene, the helicopter extracted the woman from the sea.
One officer was also extracted by helicopter, while the other officer was rescued soon after by Coastguard.
By 3pm everyone was out of the water and safely on shore. The man and woman were taken by ambulance to hospital for observations.
These people were very lucky - we are thankful to the help of Surf Life Saving, the Coastguard and the helicopter who were able to assist our police officers with this rescue.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre