A Ruatoria grandfather had a lucky escape from floodwaters thanks to the efforts of his neighbour and local Police.
Albert (Bubs) Woodford, 89, was travelling from Napier to Ruatoria with a laden trailer on Monday night when he became trapped by floodwaters.
Ruatoria Acting Sergeant Matt McVey was on duty when he received the emergency call stating Bubs had raised the alarm north of Tokomaru Bay. Matt immediately put a plan in place to search for him.
He contacted Bubs’ granddaughter, Rylie Fox, in Tauranga, who was able to provide details of a neighbour Matt could call to check if Bubs had made it home safely, which he hadn’t.
Matt contacted the neighbour, Graham Mathieson, and they agreed to drive towards each other between Tolaga Bay and Ruatoria to see if they could spot Bubs on the road. But when they both arrived in Te Puia Springs, neither had seen him.
Rylie continued to call her grandfather’s cell phone to try to locate him. Meanwhile, Matt was able to identify that the emergency call had been made near Tolaga Bay, while also keeping Rylie up to date with the search efforts.
Despite the wet and stormy weather, Matt and Graham searched the roads for several hours until they spotted faint tail lights on Anaura Road, a small side road off the highway, and found Bubs’ vehicle and subsequently Bubs.
He had taken a wrong turn and ended up caught in floodwaters, walking a kilometre in neck-deep water until Matt and Graham found him soaked to the skin and extremely cold.
They took him to Te Puia Hospital where he was able to get dry clothes, a hot cup of tea and something to eat.
Rylie says if it wasn’t for Matt and Graham, it could’ve been a very different outcome.
“I can't thank the efforts of these two men enough," she says. "I really appreciate their hours of searching, keeping me informed and working together for a great result.
"Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you did.”