The Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter was tasked with the near-impossible when they were called out to find a patient in New Zealand’s second-largest national park.

Crewman Carl Babe was part of the search and rescue to find a 71-year-old male who had sustained a head injury after falling down a waterfall in the Kahurangi National Park on Monday.

Babe said they were alerted to the job at 4pm but on the way the patient couldn’t figure out whether their rescue beacon was working or not, so switched it on and off a number of times, losing the signal to the rescue helicopter.

“That got a bit challenging because we thought we were getting close the scent and then all of a sudden we’d lose him.

“It had its challenges, but eventually we found him in a wee creek bed in dense terrain.”

After around an hour of searching, from 200ft above, Babe said he spotted a thermal blanket the patient had laid out on the rocks.

“It wasn’t highly visible but just enough for me to have another look and find them.

“We had to winch a medic in and winch him out.”

The patient was transported to Nelson Hospital with moderate injuries.

Babe said it was the fourth winch job the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter had completed in 48 hours.

“We’re trained and have the equipment to do the job, and it’s pretty rewarding when you do manage to get in and help people out.”