Rescue news greeted calmly

Press, 30 November 1982, Page 1

Rescue news greeted calmly

Mark Inglis’ wife, Anne, who has been staying with his parents in Geraldine, said that she first heard news of the rescue at 8.45 a.m. yesterday when she was staying with Mark’s sister, Anne, who also lives in Geraldine.

"My brother-in-law (Mr John Inglis, of Wellington) rang me as soon as he got the news from Mount Cook. He said ‘Mark is in the rescue room with a big grin on his face’.” She said that she reacted calmly because once she had discovered that one of the two had been seen alive on the mountain on Sunday night she knew they were safe. However, she had not expected them to be rescued yesterday because it was snowing. Mark's mother said that she was delighted and relieved at the rescue. She had never given up hope but the week of waiting since the two climbers were dropped emergency supplies had been a long one. Mrs Inglis, sensaid that neighbours, friends, relatives and the Mount Cook rescuers had all been "wonderful.”

Would Mark go back to the mountains again? "He’ll go back. It’s his life,” she said. Mrs Alison Doole said from Wellington she was "terribly relieved." "I feel elated ... it’s absolutely wonderful.” she said “I'm just so glad they are safe and no-one else was injured. It has been an anxious time for us, but it has been a joyful time. “People have been tremendous — it’s as if all New Zealand has been wanting them to come through it."

Mark’s father, Mr Jim Inglis, said the Mount Cook National Park staff had done a “terrific job.” But Mr Inglis said members of his household got a “hell of a shock” to hear Monday evening’s television news that the two climbers were "clinically dead." “My wife and I were terribly upset... I immediately rang the park headquarters at Mount Cook and they put us right.”

Television New Zealand has apologised for the statement on TVI on Sunday evening. The information was incorrect and was later corrected.

It was based on a preliminary assessment by rescue organisers and was not intended as a news release.

The Inglis and Doole families have been offered a free “holiday in the sun” at Picton for a week. The offer has come from the owners of the .Marlin Hotel, Mr John Hopkins and his wife', who said yesterday that the offer was open for up to a week, provided it was before December 15, after which the hotel had heavy bookings.