Carry Patient 12 Miles In Nightmare Trek

Northern Advocate, 18 July 1949, Page 4

Carry Patient 12 Miles In Nightmare Trek

AUCKLAND, Mon., (Sp.).—How tha leading stretcher bearer had a i*ope tied round his waist and was pulled through-the mud by a horse is related by Mr L. G. Pettigrew in his account of the successful removal of a sick Maori child from Maungapohatu, one of the most • remote settlements in New Zealand, to the Rotorua Hospital last week.

Mr Pettigrew is the sole teacher at Maungapohatu Maori School, and he and his wife are the only Europeans for 20 miles around. To reach the nearest road in the heart of the Urewera country, Mrs Pettigrew and a party of Maoris had to carry the sick child on a stretcher over a 12-mile horse track through dense bush, and over two 4000 ft ranges. Rain fell heavily throughouht the trek as the seven Maori men and three Maori women and Mrs Pettigrew with nine horses, struggled through the mud. The track was so narrow that only two men could carry the stretcher at a time.

Ofter the stretcher-bearers collapsed in the mud. Streams more than knee deep had to be crossed and often fallen trees blocked the track. Almost exhausted, the party reached the road after an eight-hour struggle.

Mrs Pettigrew then set off to walk the eight miles to Ruatahuna to obtain a truck for the party. The girl’s condition was slowly improving yesterday.