Man struck by falling tree flown to hospital

The Wellington-based Westpac Rescue Helicopter flew two seriously injured people to Wellington Hospital yesterday.

The helicopter responded to Wanganui Hospital with a Wellington Hospital ICU Flight team around 1pm and picked up a 54 year old Palmerston North man who was injured in a car accident earlier today. The man was transfered from Wanganui ICU to Wellington ICU, arriving at Wellington Hospital at 4pm.

While transfering the man in ICU the helicopter was requested to responded to the Mangaroa Valley in Upper Hutt where a man was struck by a falling tree. Three Wellington Free ambulance paramedics were caring for the man when the Westpac Rescue Helicopter arrived at the scene. The 52 year old Masterton man is suffering from chest injuries after being struck by the falling tree.

We have no details on what caused the tree to fall or how the man came to be struck by the tree.

The man was transferred to Wellington Hospital Emergency Department under the care of a WFA paramedic and he is currently being treated and assessed.